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Progressive cash-worthy insurance company and affiliates national average 12-month savings of $744 by new customers surveyed who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. >> This is Jamar Chase from Sunday practicing and that was big news because he hadn't been practicing. It had been a kind of low-key hold-in that hadn't gotten a lot of attention. So by all appearances, he's practicing maybe a deal as close to being done, whatever the case may be, that's not what a hold-in is. This is what a hold-in is. Guy in street clothes, at practice, brief encounter with T-Higgins kept to himself on Wednesday while the media was in the bubble. So that was that with Jamar Chase. He's back to holding in and I don't know what sense to make of it. The Bengals is the Bengals to take a little twist on what someone once said about the Browns. Here's Zack Taylor coach of the Bengals who's kind of caught in the middle of this mess between the front office and Jamar Chase on the fact that Jamar Chase was practicing then on Wednesday, he wasn't. >> Yeah, he's look great, you know, same Jamar I'm used to and the plan will be continue to practice with him. >> You say the plan is for Jamar to be ready for week one? >> Yeah, he's going to practice this week and we'll just keep taking it from there. >> Zack, are you confident he'll play week one? >> Yes. >> And right now you are expecting him to play week one. That is your experience. >> This isn't complicated. Yeah, he's just, he's practicing like he has been the last couple of days. >> But has something changed between yesterday when you said that you expected Jamar to practice and today I'm not showing up? >> I said that yesterday. >> I think every day is a new day. We'll keep working through it. I'm not going to make predictions on what tomorrow brings. At the end of the day, Jamar is a great dude, that means a lot to this team and we'll just continue to take it day to day. >> Do you still expect him to play in the opener? >> This is all part of that plan that we've talked about, you know, so this is just the later stages of that plan. But I think it's wise for me just to say we're going to take it day to day and see what tomorrow brings. I think I probably put my mouth speaking too quickly and it's just, again, this is a day to day situation. We'll just keep seeing it as that. >> Okay, I did a shitty job on the throw because the first part was Zach Taylor basically saying, yeah, he's back in practice. He's going to practice. He's going to play. And then when he didn't practice on Wednesday, he's like, I don't know what the hell I'm saying. And I probably shouldn't have said what I said and I'm not going to make any predictions about the future. And what's odd about this is you shouldn't have any question about whether a guy who reported and is present with the team and is healthy, why wouldn't he play week one? See, this is where the hold in becomes problematic. And Rokwan Smith experienced this in Chicago two years ago. He held in, didn't get his contract. At some point, you got to suit up and play. You got to go. Come on. Clock's ticking. We had our fun. We tried to work it out. You didn't expose yourself to injury during training camp or the preseason, but now it's time to go earn your money. We're not just going to let you voluntarily not play. And the hammer that the team has is the ability to punish the guy. At some point, it's conduct detrimental to the team. You're here. It's time to practice. No. Yes. No. Okay. You're fine for conduct detrimental to the team. And look at one point, Zach Taylor was asked whether or not Jamar Chase is being fined for not practicing. And he didn't answer it, which means he's being fined for not practicing. So there's something dysfunctional going on here between the Bengals and Jamar Chase. And the one way it gets solved is if they just sign him, do a damn contract. I think Mike Brown wants to kick the candle next year, knowing that it's going to be more expensive when you sign him, but you get him really, really cheap for this year. Oh, I think there's any doubt about that, Mike. And he basically said that earlier in training camp that they want to push the can down the road the next year. And that's what the Bengals do and they are now where they are. But you're right. At some point, you got to play. It's like John Lynch said about Brandon, I you could we're going to discuss next. So it's $45,000 a day now that the training camp and preseason is over. And at some point, they can go to suspension. You conduct detrimental to the team and we're putting you we're suspending you. So he's got to decide, I guess, what he wants. He's not going to get the contract. I think that's pretty obvious. He's not getting a new contract this year. So we might do. He still might well, look, I think his camp is targeting his campus targeting next Thursday because that's the day last year that Joe Baro got his contract. And I think if it doesn't come by next Thursday, that's when it goes to Defcon one or Defcon five, whichever one is the bad one. That's when it goes there. If he doesn't have a deal, if the Bengals don't move to what Jamal Chase is looking for by next Thursday, that's when it gets even worse than it is now. Well, and it's not a complicated deal, Mike. You have CD Lam's deal, you had Justin Jefferson's deal. He's going to want to be paid more than Justin Jefferson. It's really not that complicated. It's just a lot of money and Mike Brown doesn't want to pay a lot of money. That's what it boils down to. So if they want to get it done, they can get it done. It's just a matter of do the Bengals want to get that done. 4.8 million is what Jamal Chase is due to make this year. And from Mike Brown's perspective, even if I have to pay him annual percentage or average per year, excuse me, APY got my acronym Unbundling messed up, average per year of 35 or 36 or whatever. Next year, I still got him fourth year of his career for 4.8 million. And he would have held out, I believe, if he didn't have a 3.8 million dollar training camp roster bonus that was earned the third day, he had to be there the third day to get it. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been there. And this would be hold out like CD lamb. The difference is Chase is only three years in. He's not willing to do that fourth year. It's kind of like Kyler Murray, Miles and I talked about this yesterday. Kyler Murray was not going to play for four million or whatever he was due to make his fourth year. Michael Parsons should not be playing for three million. That's what he's due to make this year. Chase doesn't want to do it, but he also didn't want to miss out on the 3.8 million that he got on the third day of training camp. So that one is a mess. It's gotten messier. And if he doesn't have that new deal by a week from today, that's when it's going to be messiest. Mark my words and mark your calendar next Thursday season starts and some fun can start between the Bengals and Jamal Chase, or at least it can continue and reach a higher level. All right. Brandon Ayuk, let's pivot to that because he's in the same boat. The hold in ends at some point. You either take our best offer and get to work, or you don't take our best offer and get to work, either way, it's time to get to work. Here's both Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch on Brandon Ayuk being medically cleared to practice, which means get to work. I hope so. I actually haven't got to see him today. Players got it late today. We've been doing the 53 and practice squad and kind of still working on us though, but I hope so. Say you hope so. Does that mean he has told you that he is going to practice today? No. Is there any reason believe that today would be different than previous weeks? I don't know. I haven't heard anything. Working on the 53, the practice squad, I haven't talked to him. I know he's been cleared by our doctors, so I hope that he's out there practicing today. Since your doctors have said he's healthy, if he refuses to practice, would you discipline him? I'll deal with that when that happens. With the communicated to Brandon's camp at any point, saying, you know, he would be expected to practice starting. I'm not going to get into our communication again, but, you know, there's, you know, at some point you got to play. Yes, that's the whole reality of the hold in. You don't want to be fined. You don't want to get yourself into a position where, you know, you're, you're creating greater acrimony and we saw from CD lamb yesterday how antsy he was about not being with the team. So this is the middle ground that works until it doesn't. It works until it's time to go play and week one is approaching for the San Francisco 49ers. So this is very simple at this point, trade him, which I think with each passing minute becomes harder to justify if you're the commanders or the Steelers or whoever would be trading for him because what value are we going to get out of him? Week one, he, he look at everything that's got to happen between now and week one, sign him or get to work at 14.1 million. And it just tells me that the 49ers, you know, I just thought at the right time when the clock strikes 12, like the Cowboys did give the Cowboys credit for knowing when the clock strikes 12, I think the clock struck 12 a month too late. But when it was time to get it done, they got it done. I was confident that the 49ers, when the time comes to get it done, they're going to get it done. But apparently there's something going on there. And somebody asked me this question recently, are the 49ers kind of low key dysfunctional? Yes, yes, they benefit from the presence of John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, but it's the upper reaches of the organization. They got a little of that dysfunction going on and dragging your feet way too long and not valuing your guys properly and not getting these deals done, be a little too cheap, be a little too, a little too cheap, a little too cheap. Sorry. I said it, but that's keeping them from keeping this nucleus together because not only do they have Brandon Ayuk, they got Trent Williams who isn't there. I was going to make that point. Trent Williams to me is the way bigger deal than Brandon Ayuk, and we just keep talking about Brandon Ayuk, Brandon Ayuk, Brandon Ayuk, because he's doing the hold in, Trent Williams isn't even there. So nobody's talking about Trent Williams. That's a huge, and this is the all-pro left tackle. This guy is massive for this team. This is a huge absence if he isn't their week one. So I'm the 49ers. I'm more concerned about Trent Williams getting on the field than I am, Brandon Ayuk getting on the field, but I agree with you, Mike. I think the trade has passed. I think that's done. I think it's either he's going to get his contract with the 49ers or he's not, and it sounds like they've made their best offer, take it or leave it. So he has a decision to make, what are you going to do at this point? The hold in is not going to work anymore. So make a decision to play, don't play, leave the team, get suspended, and I don't know even what that does for you at that point. But I think the trade has gone. It's passed, and he's going to be with the 49ers. The question is, is he going to play? Is he not going to play? If he does play, what kind of shape is he going to be in to start the season? All of those sorts of things come into play at that point, but they need to get Trent Williams in there, and they need to get him in there now. And look, there's a point where it becomes, and I thought of this earlier when you mention, and I'm going to go back to Brandon IU, when you mentioned that you could possibly get suspended at some point. As the player who's holding in, essentially holding out, but present, if you don't practice, if you don't play, they can suspend you for conduct detrimental to the team. And it reminds me of a guy who, once upon a time, played for the 49ers, got traded to the Ravens, oh, wait, no, that didn't happen, then he was traded to the Eagles. And after his spectacular first season in 2004, Terrell Owens wanted more, and the Eagles did the old, you have a contract, we're not going to, that was that, that they had that mindset of, we have you, and we're not going to do, and it was a bad way to run a team. They should have, they should have found a way to make the guy happy. They should have found a way to reward him and give him more protections. He played with a broken ankle in the Super Bowl for crying out loud. You know, our mindset has changed in the last 20 years. We were still, I think, as a media operation, everyone, hey, this is how it works. You got the guy under contract. He's got to show up now, Bologna, Terrell Owens was Herculean in 2004. He far exceeded anyone's expectations. The guy just wants some security and you're hiding behind the contract. They got what they deserved here, but at the same time, what did he do? He decided, if you're not going to pay me, I'm going to be a pain in the ass until you cut me or trade me. And that's set off the shirtless driveway sit-ups, the next question press conference on his front lawn with Drew Rosenhouse, next question, next question, next question. Why the hell are you doing a press conference? If all you're going to say is next question, Drew, and then, you know, he got into a fight with Hugh Douglas, allegedly, reportedly, whatever. He took shots at Donovan McNabb and eventually they said enough, enough. They suspended him for conduct detrimental and they sent him home with pay, which ended the practice, the next CBA, of sending home players with pay. And I say all that because if Brandon Ayuk is forced against his will, we want volunteers not hostages, if he's forced against his will to play when he feels like he's getting screwed financially at $14.1 million, is he going to go out there and give it his all all the time? Or is he going to be disruptive? Is he going to morph into a Terrell Owens style pain in the ass? They're forcing him to do that. Yeah. And I had forgot the TO example, but I think that's a very good one, Mike, of how it can turn really, really bad. And this has the potential, I think more for the 49ers than for the Bengals, because I do think Jamar Chase will play and I don't think he will be disruptive. But I think this has the potential to be a TO situation moving forward if he doesn't get the money that he wants. This whole hold in thing, and I think one of the reasons it's become more popular is the changes they made in the last CBA, the fine structure, especially if you're not under your first contract, none of the fines are waivable. I still don't know how they pull that off. The fines are more expensive. I mean, I you technically his fines. And this was the rule before 2020, but for a guy in his fifth year option, if you miss preseason games, the fine for missing those preseason games is a regular season game check. That's three of them already before you even lose a game check by missing a regular season game. If that's what you even do. It's a weird toxic situation in Cincinnati and in San Francisco. And now that the CD lamb thing, which Jerry Jones insured, sucked all the oxygen out of the room is over, I think people are realizing this is a friggin mess for the 49ers. And this is a mess for the Bengals. And we don't know how it's going to play out. And it could be, it could be guys who are fined and or suspended. It could be guys who feel like they're being forced to do something they don't want to do. And when that happens, you might see and hear things that will make the NFL even more interesting Shireen than it already is. Is that possible? Can it be more interesting than it already is might well, that's all we like here. People say, what are your root for? I root for good stories. And even though it's bad for the 49ers and it's bad for the Bengals, it's great for business to see these things happening, but it would be better for the National Football League if they were resolved and the players retreated fairly, paid fairly. These aren't, you know, a couple of mid-level slappies who are being greedy. These are guys who deserve more than what they're getting. I think we can all agree that Brandon Ayuk, a second team all pro who had over 1,300 receiving yards on 101 targets, second in the league in yards per target, he deserves more than 14.1 million when the markets are 35. And I think we can all agree that Jamart Chase, who is one of the single best receivers in all of football, deserves more than 4.8 million. And this gets back to that issue with the rookie wage scale from 2011, which ensured that Jamarkus Russell, Ryan Leif, sorry, those are the first two that always come to mind. They don't get paid a ton of money and never earn it. That's fine, but what about the guys who did earn it? What about the guys who were wrongfully deprived that giant pile of money that you're afraid somebody's going to abscond with like the hamburger because he never earned it? Jamart Chase earned it as a top five pick and he's getting 4.8 million this year. I interviewed the commissioner in 2010 at the league office for the one and only pre-season preview magazine, PFT. That was before your time, Shireen, and be happy about that because that was a lot of work for a dead industry. I'm at the grocery store and I see all these preview magazines and I'm like, who the hell buys those? Why didn't even make those anymore? They weren't buying them in 2010. They sure as hell aren't buying them now. Anyway, interviewed the commissioner for that. And I said, what happens when you have guys who did earn the money they didn't get while the teams will take care of the players at the proper time? Oh, they don't. That's the problem. There's no reason to wait until year five for a guy who is proven and get it done. And for Jamart Chase who's proven it in three years, there's no reason to wait. Now, they both should have held out. They both should have held out. This would be cleaner. It would be easier. And the pressure would be even greater on the team if they'd held out. Maybe one of the things we're going to learn from this is hold ins, unless you know the team is going to at the right time pay you, it can lead to more problems than it's ever going to solve. Well, and that's the problem, Mike, that teams don't take care of players. It's just like what you said with the bingles with T.O. The the eagles said, you have a contract, you're going to play under that contract. Michael Parsons, as you pointed out, should have held out. He should not have been a camp. He should have continued to work out of his own and say, I'm due money, make it or I'm just going to hold out the year. And he's vastly underpaid for what he's done for the Cowboys and how valuable he is. And they'll still take care of him if he has an injury this year. But what if you have a career ending injury? I just they don't take care of guys unless they do something drastic, like hold out. And that is why CD lamb has his deal. Jerry had a quote yesterday and I didn't circle back to it. We probably need to today, but Jerry had a quote yesterday of about Dak Prescott and said, well, CD wasn't here, but DAX here is basically saying CD got his money because he wasn't here and we had to get him here. So we had to give him his money, but DAX here. So we don't have to give him his money and he didn't say Micah, but he might as well thrown Michael Parsons into that pot that Micah Parsons is here. So we don't have to give him his money. So it's sad that that's the only way that these guys, as you said, have earned that money, but yet aren't seeing it when they should be seeing it and you're right. It may be a hold out as much better than a hold in. And maybe that's what we've learned through the soft season is hold ins don't exactly work. Shreen. I'm glad to know that you finally joined me in the ignore the rest of the outline club and not pay attention to what's coming next and just start talking about what's coming next because I do it all the time. So I finally influenced you. I'm a bad influence because that's what we're talking about next and you'll hear the exact quote straight from the mouth of Jerry Jones on the Dak Prescott contract situation in the aftermath of CD lamb getting his contract. That's next here on this Thursday edition of PFT live experience the performance of Lexus racing the thunderous V8 engine. The black and day glow yellow Lexus RC f GT three a blur of speed and adrenaline. The sheer force of acceleration. The physics to find grip of the tires, the intensity of every corner, the precision of each maneuver, the sound of victory. Visit licensed.com/motor sports to keep the thrill going. This time of year, Saturdays mean one thing and one thing only college football. With sling you get access to hundreds of games and the biggest network starting at $40 a month. That's just $40 a month sling takes your love of college football to the next level. It's a no brainer streaming games and saving on them too and it's not just college football. Sling has live sports news entertainment channels you love and less of the ones you don't so you save hundreds of dollars on live TV. Sling also lets you choose and customize your channel lineup so you can choose the channels you actually like to watch. Sling's cloud DVR lets you record your shows to watch on your schedule. There's no complex technology, no long-term contracts and no hidden rigamarole. Get rewarded for watching college football. Sling lets you do that. Visit sling.com/play to learn more and get started, that's sling.com/play, sling.com/play. Well, well, well, during the break I was made aware of a tweet or a post on X for me in rapper port of NFL media. Now official Patriots coach Gerard Mayo informed players in a team meeting that we have a drum roll sound effect. We've got that stupid ass piano. Do we not have a drum roll? We need a drum roll. And having no drum roll sound effect is frankly better than Chris trying to do it because Michael Winslow, he's not. He basically just goes bla bla bla bla bla bla. So anyway, drum roll. Jacobi Prasad is the starting quarterback and Drake May is the backup. Shireen, you win. It was a bet for nothing. You win the satisfaction. You were right. I was wrong, although I think the Patriots are getting it wrong and the right thing to do would be to play Drake May. I think at some point, Drake May does play, but for now, Jacobi Prasad is going to make his 49th career start and he will take a pummeling I would expect and who knows how long this last Mike, but I think it's the right choice from the start just to see how that offensive line holds up, see how much he truly gets pummeled, and you know, he had that shoulder injury that we talked about earlier in that preseason game and that could be week one. Drake May better be ready to come in and play. He better be a relief pitcher getting warmed up and getting ready from the jump because that very well may happen behind this offensive line. Yes, and look, that's the reality. It could happen as soon as week one. I don't think it's good form to specifically predict injuries, but we know from experience guys are going to get injured when it's time to go play full contact regular season football and Drake May needs to be ready to go and Joe Milton the third needs to be ready to go. He's still on the depth chart and he showed some flashes. He showed some promise and it wouldn't be the first time that a low round draft pick in New England got thrust into the fray and was expected to do something. And of course, 23 years ago, that guy did do something. Okay, that's the update real time ripping up the outline sort of, so we'll get back to what we were planning to talk about right now Dallas Cowboys, Jerry Jones. Here he is from yesterday talking to reporters and we're going to first focus on the fact that the CD lamb deal is done. Here's Jerry on finally getting a star receiver back in the fall. CD said when his agent called him, said he had 34 million a year, he was like, where do I sign? How conscious are you in negotiations of the top of the market where those numbers come in when he can go shade those contracts? Well, you, I knew where he wasn't coming in at. And at this time, in that time, that was about the only one in the market that I was looking at financially it is not in most cases a matter of the money. It's a matter of the use of the term money as it relates to the cap. And if you can get the most players and the better players out there for the least amount under the cap, you're doing your very best job. But solid words, solid words, solid bottom line is he has one thing in common with Mike Brown and only one thing they are both cheap. And this thing could have been done a long time ago. They set a bad deadline. Look at what the Vikings did Vikings got it right mandatory mini camp. That's our deadline. We're getting Justin Jefferson's deal done. Oh, and he's there for mandatory mini camp. He's there for all the training camp. He's there for the preseason and he's ready to go. Now CD lamb with the money that Jerry could have paid him before training camp even started the same damn deal. No training camp, no preseason, more pressure on lamb, more pressure on the cowboys and the same contract. He didn't pay more. He didn't pay less. He paid the same. That's a whiff by the cowboys and the only thing that makes sense is Jerry thought, you know what, we don't need him at camp, but what we do need is to be the biggest story in football. Let's suck the oxygen out of the room with the CD lamb hold out and they did. I agree with you on one part of that and disagree with you on the other part of that. The part I agree with is this could have been done the day after the Justin Jefferson deal. It was not that complicated. CD lamb never came off of what he wanted. He got what he wanted, the cowboys started out low and went up and then went up again and then went up again and then eventually came to the number that CD lamb had the day after Justin Jefferson's deal was done. So this should have been done long ago and, you know, when you're not in camp and you're not in pride, you work as hard as you want, but playing football is the only way you get in football shape and you worry about those soft tissue injuries. And Ezekiel was on a pitch count when he came back from his hold out now, it was a week later, but when he came back from his hold out, he was on a pitch count and played 35 plays, I think it was in the season opener that year of his hold out. So you got to be careful with these things, but I think the reason that it didn't get done, Mike, and the reason that Prescott hasn't gotten done and the reason that Michael Parsons hasn't got done, it's Jerry doesn't want to write that check. Jerry doesn't, he, $38 million signing bonus. I think it's Jerry being cheap, not wanting to write that check. We agree. We agree. He's cheap. Like Mike Brown. Well, I don't think it has to do with him. I don't think it has anything to do with him because if it did, the Cowboys would assign sequan Barkley the first day to make a splash to, they were not a non-story in March, a non-story. But they couldn't, they couldn't because they had to sign DAC, CD, and Mica. They couldn't go all in. They could just say all in. Well, they haven't done anything at Free A to C since 2012 and they signed branded card of a $50 million contract of the first day of Free A to C. They've done nothing in Free A to C and they've done it and it goes back to the reason why is because Jerry doesn't want to write those big checks and he hasn't written those big checks. He doesn't like writing those big checks. So it's why DAC Prescott is sitting there with, without a contract and the reason that Michael Parsons is sitting there without a contract and guess what? You risk losing DAC Prescott because he's, I don't know, you tell me, Mike, why would he agree to a contract that he's this close to Free A to C and having teams bid on him? Why would he agree to a contract right now? We're talking about this yesterday, biggest free agent since Reggie White, the original free agent, the guy who was exempt from the franchise tag in 1993. This will be when it happens and why would you? There's nothing they can do to keep him from becoming a free agent. Why would you not put yourself in that position to see what else is out there before you give a final answer to the Cowboys? We're hovering in the same ballpark. Both things can be true. Jerry Jones is cheap. Jerry Jones wants maximum attention and interest and discussion of the Cowboys. So if there's a way he can both be cheap and have maximum interest and discussion, let's do it. So yeah, I could get more interest in the team if I pay Seguan Barkley, but there's other ways I can do it without paying Seguan Barkley. Let's do it the cheaper way. So I think we're both right on this. I agree with you he's cheap and he knows how to take a situation and milk it for all the attention. It's worth and he loves it. He loves it so much that he's not even upset that I'm calling him out for it because I'm talking about him. That's what he wants and he doesn't care if people are saying he's cheap. He doesn't care because he'd rather us say he's cheap than say nothing about him at all. Okay, he said some things about Dak Prescott and this is the quote that Shireen almost nailed last segment. Jerry Jones was asked with the CD lamb situation resolved. How would you characterize the Dak Prescott negotiations? Lamb wasn't here. Dak is here. So we have really no more to do in those significant things that we talk about every time we meet to have this season on go by opening day. So it'll remain like it's been on Dak for a second. Is there any indication that if you don't have something done by the opener that talks will discontinue that they'll just focus on the season? No, not not any indication of any of that. That's why I said it'll be just like it's been. What more do you need to see with Dak Prescott to give him a good contract? Well, you could easily say if you hadn't seen it by now you haven't seen it. And so I'm such a fan of Dak's and appreciate all of the great things that we all know that he's there. The Dak's situation right now for me from my mirror has more to do with our situation than it does with the merits of Dak Prescott being quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. You know, you alluded to this last segment we were talking about hold ins. Why would you ever hold in? Hold out. Look at the pressure it puts on Jerry Jones. Dak's here. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, baby. CD's squeaking. Dak isn't. Micah isn't. He's not going to pay you until you force him to for as much money as that guy has made and as much as he has and the $250 million yacht. He is not going to pay you until he has no choice but to pay you. CD Lam put him in position where he had no choice. Dak hasn't yet. Micah hasn't yet. They both should have. I'm not saying Dak should have held out because I think Dak's in the perfect position. Yeah, I'm just going to sit back. I'm not holding out. I'm going to get ready to go have a great year. So somebody is going to offer me $70 million. Forget about $60. I'm going for $70 when I hit the open market next year. That was smart for Dak but stupid by the Cowboys because they're just sitting back saying, oh, we don't have to do anything. We got him. He's here. Yeah. And he's laying the foundation to have the kind of year that's going to make it harder for you to keep him next year. Well, and as you have written in the past, Mike, they should have redone this deal two years ago but they didn't have the foresight to do that because they're holding tight onto that money. But we've got him. We have a contract. We don't need to redo that contract. So here they are with him potentially becoming a free agent in March and it's repeated by the Cowboys time after time after time again. It's the only thing that gets Jerry's attention and forces him to act. Look at him. Go all the way back to Emmett Smith held out for two games. Cowboys go 0 and 2 finally gets him signed to what Emmett Smith wanted from the start. You could have had him in those first two games of what 1993, I believe it was. And then look and then look at Zach Martin last year held out finally got what he wanted in training camp Ezekiel Elliott 2017, I believe it was held out finally got what he wanted. Cowboys overpaid because they didn't they didn't negotiate with him before the holdout and then they became desperate the week of the season opener. We've got to sign him September 3rd. They get him signed before the season opener. So this is a repeated thing time after and guess what? Michael Parsons is going to be where CD lamb is this time next year, he's going to hold out and he's going to get his contract right before the season starts. Yeah, and you're absolutely right and and look, you know, there were the almost cartoonish comments from Jerry Jones earlier this week to Clarence Hill about why he's best suited to be the GM of the team. Hey, folks, the proof is right in front of our faces. There are flaws. They do a great job of drafting and developing. They do a piss poor job. Sorry, London, when it comes to figuring out what comes next in both directions. Why did you franchise tag Tony Pollard with a broken ankle? Why did you pay Michael Gallup? What the hell are you thinking and how do you continue to bungle Dak Prescott? And you know, you alluded to this, that four year, $160 million contract, which at the time that it was negotiated, and I saw the terms and understood the ramifications. I said, this is better than the Patrick Mahomes deal because it's going to put Dak on the open market or force the Cowboys to give him another contract soon and later. This thing was designed so the Cowboys would after three years at the latest say, and these cap numbers are gigantic. We have to redo this and they don't even blink. They moved his cap number from 59 down to 55 and they're content to go into the season with Dak Prescott with a cap number, $15 million higher than his annual average on his contract. They're content to do that. It makes no sense. That's money that could have been spent on other players like Saquon Barkley. So you get the deal done with Dak, you drive the cap number down, you spend money on other players. You sign Micah Parsons, you sign CDLAM. CDLAM's cap number this year is going to be a lot lower than the $17.99 million. It was going to be on this new five year deal. Micah's is going to go up. You can do all those things. And you know, until the fans truly understand it and do something about it, it's not going to change because he is the ultimate carnival barker and he makes the fans think that they are all in. And he's got that way of winking and he's got that homespun charm. But man, you know, it took me 23 years to figure it out. This is all an act. This is step right up. Give us your money. Come root for our team. We're doing our best to win a Super Bowl. Oh, no, we're not, but don't tell him that part. We'll tell you we're doing our best to win a Super Bowl because that's what gets you to step right up and give us your money. I tell you what, Mike, you know, I live in Dallas, Fort Worth, right down the street from the stadium in Arlington, a lot of neighbors who have seasoned tickets. I have never seen, I don't know if it's apathy or Brad Shams says it's frustration and anger with this team, but I haven't seen it before. This is the first time really that that I've seen Cowboys fans not be excited about a season and they are frustrated and they are angry and maybe they are a little bit apathetic as well. But it's interesting to me that this is really the first year and if they don't start out well, let's say I think there's a potential depending on how to Sean Watson's shoulder. I think there's a potential that they could go to Cleveland and get blown out in week one. And if they do, all bets are off because I think Cowboys fans are going to be living and we'll see how many show up. You most have already paid their season tickets and Jerry Jones is very proud of that. We had all these renewals and 90,000 season tickets or whatever they have. I can't remember the number. We'll see if they show up for that, that first home game if they go into Cleveland and get blown out. But I've never seen a Cowboys fan base for the most part like this really not looking forward to the season and already conceding that we've got no opportunity in the postseason. Continuing with the theme of Jerry being a carnival barker, I think it was PT Barnum who said there's a sucker born every minute. And Jerry is proving that by lining his pocket, although he said under oath at the Sunday ticket trial, he's never taken a profit, a single penny from the Dallas Cowboys organization, which I don't know about that one, but that's what he said. Okay, I had one more really good point to make and I now forget what it was. I hate when that happens. Oh, I know what it was. Wait. Oh, Mike McCarthy. That's why they're apathetic. He should have been fired. How can you justify? How can you justify going 12 and five pulling an inside straight and winning the division because the Eagles collapsed and getting the crap kicked out of you by the Green Bay Packers, the team, Mike McCarthy coached and he said after the game, nobody saw this coming, Mike. One of your many jobs is to see it coming. One of your many jobs is to study the film of the opponent and realize that the Green Bay Packers are a very different team the past month or so than they were earlier this year. They got something going on here. They could beat us. I need to see it coming. The only way you properly prepare for any opponent is to see it coming. Even if it doesn't come, you need to see it coming. So you're properly motivated by the fear that it will and why didn't Jerry fire him because he's too cheap to pay him not to work for him. So let's get through this lame duck year and then I'll go hire somebody else and it probably won't be Bill Belichick because it'll be too cheap to pay him, but it's a great story that we're all going to be talking about. Bill Belichick to the Cowboys and will be tantalized at the possibility and it'll hire a coordinator from somewhere that he pays the lowest possible amount to and expects a different outcome next year. We should have done something with Mike McCarthy. So three consecutive 12 win, regular season, one playoff win over those three seasons, I get that. But you either extend him or you fire him. You don't let him go into the season as a lame duck, which he's called a challenge. And I think it is a challenge when you have your whole entire coaching staff in the final year of their contracts. But that's where they are, Mike. And it's because Jerry doesn't want to pay. It's the same thing he did with Jason Garrett. Jason got the extension one time and then contract expired the second time and they moved on to Mike McCarthy. And if they don't do anything in the postseason this year, it doesn't matter the regular season. But if he doesn't do anything in the postseason, they'll do the same thing with Mike McCarthy. They'll move on after this year, don't have to pay off that coaching staff. There's no money involved. Yee-haw, we can go get us a new head coach and you're right, I've said that all along. It won't be Bill Belichick because A, he'll take attention away from Jerry and B, they'll have to pay him, which they're not going to do. And I will never doubt your knowledge of the Cowboys, but Jason didn't get an extension. He finished his contract and then got another one and then finished that one and didn't. So there was no, it was a, he was a free agent, he could have left. He could have left and we don't see any NFL head coaches do that. Become a free agent and say, "See you later Jerry." And I don't know whether that's part of the collusion that goes on with head coaching or what, but that's a reality. No extensions, no firings, 'cause I might have to pay you to not work for me, even though it's all a write off. Okay, you know, we've talked so much about those issues. We don't have time for the marquee edition that the Cowboys made yesterday in signing Daven Cook to the practice squad, so we'll have to discuss that marquee edition another day. Let's take a break. When we return, some NFC East predictions, yearbook style, that's next on the FT. Fantasy season just got better this season, $1 million better. Create or join a private Yahoo Fantasy League at another $1 million NBC sweepstakes plus earn extra entries to win when players on your fantasy roster score touched down during an opening weekend game on NBC or Peacock. Download the redesigned Yahoo Fantasy app or go to nbcsports.com/fantasymillion to learn more. Let's learn more about the NFC East. We've been doing previews, Sharine, if you've been watching the show this week, you know it. You probably haven't been, 'cause it's extra early for you, but yearbook style with some of the things that you would typically find in a yearbook and some of the things that maybe you wouldn't. We are focusing today on your favorite division, the NFC East. Best newcomer is the first topic, and this can be anything you want, a rookie, a free agent addition, a coach, head coach, assistant coach, whatever, best newcomer to the NFC East. Well, I think it's easy to say Jane Daniels or Malik neighbors, and I think both are going to be great, but I'm going to look at the team that I think is going to win the division, and that's the Eagles and Vic Fangio. I think it's going to make a huge difference for that Eagles defense. He was a defense consultant there in 2022, and if not for the tampering, Jonathan Gannon by the Cardinals, he would have been the defensive coordinator in 2023. Instead, they went with Sean DeSci. That didn't work out. He lost his play calling duties to Matt Patricia in December. That defense was abysmal. Only had 18 takeaways. They gave up 143 explosive plays. I just think he's going to make a huge difference for that defense, and I think that's going to be the difference for the Eagles this year. Yeah, look, you mentioned the two that are the most obvious, so I got to take one of those, and I think it's Jayden Daniels, as Sims has been saying all along, in any other year, he would have been the number one overall pick. When we were at the scouting combine interviewing defensive players, any of them from the SEC, if we asked who was the toughest guy you ever faced, they did not hesitate. Jayden Daniels was the word that came out of their mouth, two words, the name that came out of their mouth. So I think we're going to see something special from Jayden Daniels, and you know, you could say that the Bears have the potential to be kind of like the Texans last year with the CJ Stroud bump, but we're all paying attention to that one. The commanders are the one we're really not paying attention to, kind of like we were with the Texans, and they're going to have the ability to just kind of churn through the schedule in relative anonymity, and I think Jayden Daniels can be really special for them. All right, the next one. Best bromance, dynamic duo, as an alternative way to put it. Who do you have? I think that one's really easy. Dak Prescott was second in MVP voting last year to Lamar Jackson's CD lamb made all pro for the first time. They played 49 games together, 313 catches for lamb for over 4,000 yards, 29 touchdowns. That one I think is very, very easy. Yeah, and look, if we weren't getting a little short on time, I would come up with something different, creative, maybe even a little cheeky. But this one is too simple as well. It's CD lamb and it's Dak, and they were kept apart. It's like the Montague's and the Capulets. They were kept apart by Jerry, and now they're back together, which will only lead to greater admiration and hopefully for the Cowboys and for the two players production when it's time to play in the games. All right. I know where I'm going with this one. The drama king of the NFC East. Let me go first because it's Jerry because he loves it. He's not accidentally creating it. He's deliberately doing it and he knows why he's doing it. He stirs the pot because it's good for business to stir the pot. He says whatever he has to say, he does whatever he has to do to keep the Cowboys relevant. And I would submit to you that the fact that they are still the most popular team, the team that every network wants on the air. Even though they haven't been to an NFC Championship since 1995, that's more impressive than winning one Super Bowl in that period of time. There's no question. The answer is Jerry, if I'm going to pick a player, I'll pick a player just to be different. I think it's Michael Parsons just because he's always available, he's always talking. He's always stirring up stuff and Jerry probably loves that mic because guess what? We're talking about Michael Parsons, we're talking about the Cowboys. Anytime you're talking about the Cowboys, Jerry just wants to make sure you spell his name right and you spell Cowboys right. Otherwise, he's good with you. Pick a skin I've ever met. I don't even think he cares if you spell his name wrong. He's just lucky he has a name that no one would spell wrong, right? That's true. It's not like his name's Shireen that no one knows how to spell until they finally learn how to spell it. There aren't many alternatives for Jerry Jones, although I guess he could do it with a G and an eye. Okay, most likely to succeed, Division winner, who do you have? Well, I got the Eagles. I think they have the best roster. I don't think it's going to be that close, frankly, in this division. I think the Eagles are the best team in this division. They're not going to blow a 10-in-one start this year, not that they'll get off to a 10-in-one start. But if they do, they're not going to blow that this year. I just think they're the best team in the division by far. Yeah, I agree with you as well, and the draft Kings odds make that clear. The Eagles were the best team last year. They blew it down the stretch opening door for the Cowboys to win the division. I don't see the Giants as improved enough to get there. The commanders could be the surprise team. I'm not going to rule them out, but the Eagles, I think, I want to see how they handle this pressure because I'm not sure they're handling it well so far. Nick Siriani is not just low-key, but clearly hot seat after last year when it felt like maybe he was going to be gone following the collapse and the embarrassing playoff loss to the Buccaneers. But the Eagles should win. They have the roster that they should win, and if they don't, there will be hell to pay in Philadelphia. The draft Kings Sportsbook is a, or the, in the case may be, number one place in Bette Touchdowns, and new customers can bet $5 and get $200 in bonus bets instantly, plus one month of NFL plus premium. Download the app and use promo code PFTLive when you sign up. We'll be back with more PFT Live right after this. How important is you and Odell develop in chemistry? That's very important for, for me, it's very important. Off the field, I've, I've been able to hang out with him a good amount of times. Cool dude. That's 100%, but does that translate for, you know, does our relationship translate on the field? Like, I, I couldn't tell you because I haven't gotten reps with him. And that's just the, the honest truth. That's true of talking about Loa from Tuesday, talking about a little Beckham Jr., who's been on the physically and able to perform list. We'll start the season on it. We'll miss at least four games before he can be activated. Miles and I talked about these yesterday. The whole thing's weird because he passed a physical to sign with the Dolphins. He participated in some of the off-season workouts and then he fails the physical and he's on the physically and able to perform list. Well, what the hell? What happened? Because this, what's really going on here? It's just weird, serene. And before we react to any more to that, here's Chris Greer, the Dolphins GM from yesterday asked this specific question, when you signed OBJ, when did you expect him to be ready to go? Yeah. We were very hopeful that it would be around week one here. And to be honest with you guys, we put him down. He did not want to go down. He feels, and he is very close. You guys have seen him glims running around outside doing stuff. He's very close, but for us, it was the long play. This wasn't, we didn't want him to rush back, feeling that he had to rush back, and then something happened and sets us back. So this was more, Mike and I sitting down talking with Kyle, the trainers, and then we just felt what's best for him long haul to help us here win games, is to put them down for a little bit right now. By the way, pro tip for anyone out there inclined to use the phrase, to be honest with you. That implies that you otherwise aren't honest. It's always better to say to be candid, to be frank, or to be blunt, because that's really what you mean, unless you do intend to imply that without that disclaimer, you're otherwise dishonest. Anyway, I have no reason to doubt his honesty on this. They made a calculation. There was some sort of procedure, and they won't talk about what the injury was, what the procedure was. They don't have to, because there's no injury reports yet, and there won't be for OBJ until he's activated from the pop list. But they apparently knew something was going on, but they paid him $3 million, and they had high hopes, and they did nothing to reel those in. That's the problem. It feels like the dolphin stepped in a pile of something stinky here, because there was never a caveat applied, "Hey, it's going to take some time for them to be ready." They didn't do any of that, so now it looks like they made a purchase that they're having regrets about, and they're circling the wagons to say that no, they don't. Well, the bigger problem for them, Mike, is River Craycraft got hurt in the preseason and is on injury reserve. I think they have four receivers on injury reserve, and now Odell Beckham also was out the first four games. They don't have a third or zero. They got two guys, Braxton Barrios right now is their third guy. To me, they're in trouble. You've got to have more than two receivers until Odell Beckham gets back. Guess what? This isn't the same guy that we've known, Mike. 2019 was this last thousand yard season. He was great his first three season, not so great that last six seasons, 3,800 yards of the last six seasons. This is not a great receiver anymore. All right, we got to go. Quick break, and when we come back and even quicker draft that I don't want to have to kill, the sooner I shut up, the sooner we can get to it, more PFT Labor. Malik Neighbors shedding number nine for number one, even though it was retired, and you know how I feel about that, I don't like it, I don't like it, don't retire jerseys if you're going to unretire them, but it's unretired from Malik Neighbors. Today's draft, and we have to go into hyperdrive, the rookies who will make us say wow, as of week one. Shireen, you're up first. Jayden Daniels, I love that he did the audible, the coaches didn't like it so much, but I think that showed me that he's ready to do something big first week. Remember RG3's opener, his rookie year, Pete New Orleans, 40 to 32, 320 passing yards, two touchdowns. I think he's going to do something like that. NFL offensive rookie of the year for RG3 before things fell apart, Caleb Williams for me for all the things I've said about Caleb Williams from the moment we had him on the show, Caleb Williams week one against the Titans. I'm going to go and save your worthy and it really, you know, it pains me to have to pick a long horn, but I'm picking a long horn because we know he's the fastest guy out there. And I just think with Patrick Mahomes, he's going to do something great in week one. It may just be one catch, but it's going to be a huge one. He'll do something to make us go wild. Malik neighbors against the Vikings who really don't have a great secondary currently. I know they have Stefan Gilmore, how much does he have left? We'll find out when he's expected to cover Malik neighbors, a guy that there was some talk during the draft of Vikings were trying to trade up to number five to get. All right. Let's take a break. He have to life continues right after this. I can tell you right now, you probably read between the tea leaves. There's no better question about how important CD lamb is to the cowboys. Oh, there's Jerry with the Simpsons and well done. It's catching on reading between the tea leaves. Yes. By the way, it's Chris's birthday. He's 44 today, which means he is officially old and of course, you know, he's not working today. I guess he has it in his contract that he gets his birthday off. Sure. Happy birthday, Chris, 44 getting up there. He's got a long way to go to catch us Mike. I know. I know that's that's what's sad. It's funny to see the punks get older, but that only means we get we get older. All right. One more one more Wow rookie performance week one from each of us. It's really hard not to pick Marvin Harrison. He was the top receiver drafted. He plays Buffalo. I don't know how good that Buffalo defense is going to be Mike, but I think Marvin Harrison had the Wow at Ohio State except when he played Michigan, I think he's going to have the Wow against the bills. If bills receiver Keon Coleman can play even a shred similarly to his personality, he'll have 150 yards and two touchdowns week one and I'm rooting for him. He, you know, he's just a great. He comes off as a great guy and I want to see him play well and I want to see the bills just kind of shut everyone up who's like, Oh, no, Stefan Diggs. Look, I mean, I mean, there was no Stefan Diggs late last year. They'll be fine. The bills will be fine because they have 17 in Josh Allen, right? Sure. Great work for the last two hours. Thanks to all of you for any of the time you've spent with us today and check us out on around the clock of pro football talk.com. See you tomorrow. Experience the performance of Lexus racing, the thunderous V8 engine, the black and day glow yellow Lexus RC F GT3, a blur of speed and adrenaline, the sheer force of acceleration. The physics-defying grip of the tires, the intensity of every corner, the precision of each maneuver, the sound of victory. Visit Lexus.com/motor sports to keep the thrill going. 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 and participation may vary for a limited time only. (upbeat music)
