Everybody's talking about shrinkflation. Companies are now giving you less for the same prices before. At Domino's, we're giving you more. Mix and match any two medium-to-topping pizzas, and we'll upgrade one to a large for free. That's moreflation. And that's Domino's for dinner. Prices higher for some locations select online only offer through September 29th. Prices, participation, delivery area, and charges may vary. Two item minimum, PAM pizza extra, exclude specialty pizzas. Only one medium-to-topping pizza will be upgraded to a large. Ava V, help me! First of all, congratulations on becoming the official grilling 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 gonna serve up America's favor bonus wings for 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. Taxing or two would be 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 who save by switching save nearly $750 on average and auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. So, multitask right now. Get your quote now at Progressive.com. Progressive cash-worthy insurance company and affiliates, national average 12-month 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. - We haven't seen him in a long time, but there he is. Asan Redick held out all of training camp all the preseason, wasn't happy with his contract in Philadelphia. The Jets traded form without signing him to a new contract. Yada, yada, yada, he's still holding out. And who knows when he's going to show up. It changes, though, when you start losing game checks. We don't see, other than living on Bell, who sat out all of the 2018 season, his second year of being franchise tagged with the Steelers, you rarely see a guy dig in and stay dug in for the duration of a season because that at 14.25 million divided by 18, what is that, about 800 grand a week that's going to disappear and never come back. It's never coming back, each and every week. So we'll see if he ultimately shows up. Robert Salla addressed it yesterday. He said of Redick, he's going to know what he needs to do to be ready for week one, so he still has plenty of time. And again, they're counting on that now. He understands that check is going to fly away never to be seen again. That is a difficult thing to do. Yeah, I mean, it is, especially when you put it out like that when it's a game check, but I don't know. Sometimes guys want to take a stand, right? And this is not a team that he's familiar with in any way. So, other than taking the physical to get the trade to go through, that's the only thing that he's ever really done for them. So, I don't know, this is interesting to me. There's only so much that a threat can do when you're kind of like, I don't want to do this anyway. I don't care about these people. Like, they don't want to do the thing that I want them to do. So, it is what it is. And frankly, I think it's because I'm too air and Donald Pild, but I'm looking at that workout video and I'm like, that's always, like, that's it. Like, not that it's not impressive. There were no knives involved. There were no knives involved. It's hard to be impressed by anybody using knives. Give me a little more there. Like, your foot works not that quick and you're only going through two of those things. Like, you know, I don't know. I think my perception of Aaron Donald and doing workouts has affected me here. Sorry, I'm sorry, Rhett, I'm not saying he's a bad player, but... - I mean, he's using me and being cynical. Geez. - Okay. - He's not ready. - Guys, just trying to get paid. And my math was almost right. 791,000 is what he loses each week all over the most normal prices, right? Because I went over. I went over. I should have done 790, so anyway. Robert Salah has a holdout and he's facing a Team Week One that has a holdout and a hold in. Here's Robert Salah on whether he expects to see left tackle Trent Williams of the 49ers and receiver Brandon Ayuk of the same 49ers when the two teams get together to cap Week One on Monday Night Football. - Fully expect those two. Fully expect Trent Williams to walk on the field and still be his all-pro self with a newly minted contract, I'm sure. But, and Ayuk, I'm sure he'll be there. But yeah, you keep an eye, kind of a side eye, but right now it's all tunnel vision towards them and only them. But I'll say this with or without them, they're still a championship roster. And, you know, they've got some dudes all over the roster. It's gonna be a fun game, great challenge. - Robert Salah knows that team well. He was defensive coordinator of 49ers before he became head coach of the Jets. And, yeah, it makes it a little easier. Even if they show up and are ready to play, it's the CD-LAM conversation. When's your deadline? When are you guys practicing? When are you guys ready? Now, Trent Williams, given his skillset and experience and, you know, how he does what he does, he could probably get up off the couch and go to the locker room and be ready to go on a moments notice with Brandon Ayuk. It's probably a little more complicated to get into full and complete and tip-top game condition. But still, as of last week, we were led to believe both by Kyle Shanahan and to Sean Jackson that this Trent Williams deal was getting done hasn't happened yet. And Williams not gonna show up until he gets a new contract. I don't know that that's news 'cause it's kind of like duh, that's what he's holding out for. He's not just gonna say, oh, well, I tried. But the fact that it's a little bellicose at this stage of the calendar makes you think something's gone haywire. Whatever they were doing last week to get the two sides to come together, there's been movement apart. And, you know, again, when does the clock strike 12? That's when everybody goes to their bottom line. And we see if they can connect their two positions. - Now, look, host, what a lovely $25. Where'd you just dropped in there? I didn't appreciate the little vocabulary lesson. It's quite a Peter King word, but it's, I'm just trying. - Yeah, yeah, it's a pretty big upper Peter. All right. - I like that. I liked it a lot. I think when you look at the 49ers and then the Jets trying to prepare for them, you have to think, okay, Brandon and I who Trent Williams are going to be there and we have to prepare for them to be there because if you don't think you really look like bleep bleeps when, you know, you're on the field and it's like, oh my gosh, I don't know that. Yeah, we're going to be here. There are these two really, really good players. Holy smokes. Like you have to prepare that way as if that they will be there. And especially because Robert Solon knows that team so well. I mean, that's just something you got to do. And then you would just, if it so happens that they don't have, you know, they're all pro-left tackle. They don't have one of the better receivers in football, in brand and IU. And frankly, and for my money, the player who appears to have the most chemistry when it comes to being a receiver with Brock Purdy. Like that's a significant loss if they're not there. But up until you don't know that they're going to be there, then you got to prepare for them to be there because that's what makes them so darn good is because the 49ers have one of the best offensive minds in football call and plays and designing plays in Kyle Shanahan and they've got some of the best offensive skill set players in football. And that's what's made them so good over the last few years. We're only eight days away from the first game of the regular season, which means we're eight days away from the first picks podcast with Chris Sims and me going back and forth on every single game of the week. And the last one we'll do is 49ers Jets. And yeah, the 49ers are the 49ers, but with Aaron Rodgers, we don't know what the Jets are going to be. He's been bedeviled at times by the 49ers. His favorite team growing up, the team that he desperately wanted to draft him nearly 20 years ago. But the Jets are favored to win the division plus 165, the odds for the New York Jets. This AFC East has just turned on its head with the Patriots at 25 to one and the Jets is the favorites. Here's Robert Saw the talking about the high expectations that the Jets bring into 2024. - For us, the expectations are awesome and they've been earned by the guys in the locker room. Got a lot of really cool games leading up into the first half of the season, if you will, with all the national spotlight and all that. But at the same time, the only expectation that we can truly embrace is the expectation to be our best every single day. And that's it. With the way the league is, especially over the last 10, 15 years, you're hanging by a thread. No matter what year you've been hired, it could be year one, year 10, year 20. You're always hanging by a thread and all it takes is one bad year and you're showing the door. So I don't look at it that way. It's just the way you get so used to being in an environment where expectations aren't what they are. And so that's why it's even, it's just so, so important. And like I said, last year was a great reminder in that. Stay focused in the moment, be where your feet are and be a problem solver. - The expectations last year were sky high for the Jets and the air went entirely out of the balloon for plays end of their season. At one point, and I'm still kind of there, I don't know what to expect from the Jets. And I think they should have embraced low expectations. I think anytime the opportunity to have low expectations presents itself, you should take it because you're always, I'm serious, in football and in life. But yeah, it's always better to exceed low expectations than to fail to achieve high expectations. And I have kind of lived my life under that principle. But it was when Aaron Rodgers declared that the Jets are a Super Bowl contender. They're one of the 10 or whatever. That's when the air went back in the balloon. And I don't know that that's good for the Jets. I think it would have been better to just be that team that no one really knows what the hell they're gonna be. Kind of like the Browns again. The Browns were that way last year and they exceeded expectations. They're kind of that way again this year because we don't know about their quarterback. And I still think it's reckless to just assume 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers, who's played four meaningful snaps of football since January of 2023, is gonna come back and be perfectly fine through a 17-game gauntlet with three games between September 9 and September 19 with two Sunday to Thursday short-week turnarounds in the first half of the season. Wear and tear on a body that's aging, on muscles and ligaments and tendons that might rebel against his effort to over-exert their capabilities. I just think that, you know, they're pinning on him. I'm Mike Williams who had the torn ACL last year that they brought in via free agency, Tyron Smith, who's had injury issues. Well, you know, I think that the biggest folly that fans accept early in a year before the season starts is this idea that the whole team's gonna stay healthy for 17 weeks. We know that's not the case for any team. I just, I think they've allowed the expectations to, and they've fueled it. I think they should've accepted and embraced. You know, Aaron Rodgers said, well, we haven't proven anything. We, you know, we didn't make the playoffs last year. We stunk last year. We have to prove ourselves. We have to play our way to contention. Not, yeah, hey, we're one of the top 10 teams in the NFL. We're one of the Super Bowl contenders. I think that was a mistake by them to pump up the expectations because they're setting themselves up to you, Will. Hey. - Under, under promise and overdeliver, I think that that's a good principle in life, right? I wanna, well, bars that my buddies and I kind of frequent is a sign that says lower your expectations, which can be used in all kinds of contexts, particularly in a bar. But I think when it comes to the Jets, right, you mentioned a lot of factors, which didn't mention, and this to me might be the biggest one, is who is calling and designing that offense. And that's the thing you'll hack it. And, you know, that is somebody that they literally tried to hire above to effectively replace him over the course of the off season. And, you know, I understand that Aaron Rodgers has full faith and confidence in a thing you'll hack it and all of this. But the last time, the last couple of times you were done, the thing you'll hack it is had to call design offenses, implement them, teach them all that, and not look very good. So that, to me, is also one of the big factors as to whether or not the Jets can be successful. Do they have somebody who is going to do a good job of designing, scheming, calling that offense? And that, to me, is a huge question, Mark. - Yeah, as best we can tell, Nathaniel Hackett's primary qualification so far in his career is he figured out how to suck up to Aaron Rodgers. That's it. Aaron Rodgers likes it. And he coached Blake Bortles in an AFC Championship game. - That's about it. - Oh, okay. Well, between the two, sucking up to Aaron Rodgers. Even as impressive as it is that Blake Bortles actually played in an AFC Championship game, that they could have won, but for a horrible call on a fumble that was returned for a touchdown that would have created a 17-point lead, like in the middle of the third quarter or later than that, it may have even been later than that. Now, I still think the Patriots and Tom Brady would have found a way to erase the 17-point margin, but still, they were on their way to the Super Bowl against the Eagles. And yeah, so I guess that is impressive, but still, getting on Aaron Rodgers' good side and staying on Aaron Rodgers' good side based upon what I've gleaned from out of the darkness, the mystery of Aaron Rodgers. Not easy to get on his good side and even harder to stay on his good side, because one false move, one false move, and you are done. You are on the island, as they call it, and you never get off the island once Aaron Rodgers has put you there. So Nathaniel Hackett, working with Aaron Rodgers, letting him do what he wants at the line of scrimmage, using his experience, his knowledge, his ability to diagnose and dissect and achieve. We'll see, we'll see. And I don't, you know, I never wanna be accused of jinxing someone or wishing injury someone. I'm just being realistic. The guy's 40, there has been a handful of quarterbacks who have played at a high level beyond the age of 40. And this guy hasn't played much football since he turned 38, so, or 39, get my years wrong. But regardless, we'll see what happens, and we find out in a big way on that Monday night to start the season. Jets at the 49ers. All right, let's take a break. When we return, we're gonna look at the AFC North, probably the best team, or the best division, excuse me, the entire league. Some yearbook-style superlatives for those four teams when we have too long continues right after this. - Everybody's talking about shrinkflation. Companies are now giving you less for the same prices before. At Domino's, we're giving you more. Mix and match any two medium-to-topping pizzas, and we'll upgrade one to a large for free. That's moreflation. And that's Domino's for dinner. Prices higher, for some locations, select online only offer through September 29th. Prices, participation, delivery area, and charges may vary, two-item minimum, pan-pizza extra, exclude specialty pizzas. Only one medium-to-topping pizza will be upgraded to a large. - 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 gonna serve up America's favorite bonus swings for just $0.50 each to kick off the season. - Limited time, price participation in selection may vary, tax number two would be excluded. 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 are the ones you don't. So you save hundreds of dollars on live TV. 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It's hard to believe because all four playoff caliber teams, the injuries are ultimately going to be the difference maker in that division, but I digress, most likely to succeed on offense from the teams of the AFC North Miles. Give me Baltimore because going into the second year of Todd Monkin, you've got Lamar Jackson coming off an MVP season. And I think even though Lamar Jackson wasn't MVP, I think he can be better going into this year, being more comfortable in that offense, being more comfortable with the weapons around him. And I just, I like what Baltimore has done over the course of the offseason. I think that they're gonna be good. I mean, I think all these teams really do have the potential to be good, as you were just saying. But when you are in that second year of an offense, your understanding of everything grows that much more. And that's why I think that that Baltimore offense can really take off. And Derek Henry too. I mean, come on. - Yeah, I mean, you make one of the great running backs in NFL history, the closest thing we've had to Jim Brown since Jim Brown, you make him an afterthought. Oh, by the way, they have Derek Henry. Look, I agree with you. I agree with you that the Ravens on paper are the team that should be the best offense. I just don't wanna give the Bengals short shrift because I think it's very hard to have the kind of season the Ravens had last year and have it end in a thud three hours on a late Sunday afternoon in January. I think it's hard to go back to zero and zero. It's hard to redo what you did last year. Now, having Derek Henry new to the party is a nice little kick in the ass that might keep that from happening. But since I don't want us to have the same picks, I'll say the Bengals because if Joe Burrow, we know what Joe Burrow is when he's healthy. When Joe Burrow is healthy, the Bengals are playoff slash Super Bowl contender. The two years that he didn't suffer a season ending injury in November, one year they went to the Super Bowl and almost won it, the next year they were in the AFC Championship and almost won it. So if Burrow is healthy, I think the Bengals will thrive. Last year with T Higgins who should be motivated to have a big year so it can get a big contract in pre-agency. Hopefully there won't be any kind of old school holding in where he misses some games and doesn't go all out 'cause he doesn't want to injure himself. I think it's better to chase the brass ring if you're him. Jamar Chase, if he gets his contract, the offense I think will be very highly functioning for the Cincinnati Bengals. All right, most likely to succeed or secede. I think one of those teams would like to secede in the division if they could, got a better chance of making the playoffs, most likely to succeed defensively. - Give me Cleveland, give me my hometown Browns. And for much of the same reason that I think that Baltimore's offense will be better in the second year in Todd Monk. And I think even though Cleveland's defense was by some measures historically good last year, I think that the adjustments that Jim Schwartz can make now having been with that team for an entire season will be able to make them that much better when it comes to situations and certain situations in 2024. And again, you've got somebody like a Miles Garrett, one of the top players in the National Football League coming off a defensive player of the year award. I just, I feel good about where the Browns are. Now, Jim's award and the concussion issue is something. Obviously, he plans to complete, excuse me, keep on playing, but I think that is still something to keep an eye on because he's one of these top corners. And if they don't have him, then that does start to change the complexity of the defense. - Now, I mentioned this yesterday. Players who have multiple concussions, and he's up to five now. They can say, I want to keep playing. At some point, you're not getting cleared. At some point, you're job at best. He's the one guy I can think of that ultimately had one too many, and that was it. And he was never getting cleared again. And I presume he wanted to come back. Every football player wants to keep playing football. That's what they do, that's who they are. They accept those risks and they're willing to, and I admire that. But there are doctors who aren't willing to say, I'm putting my name at the bottom of this form. You can go back and play despite all the concussions you've had. I'll go with the Steelers. I think the Steelers defense will be better this year because the offense will be better. It can't be much worse. But if you can score more points, if you're in more occasions where the defense is playing from ahead instead of from behind, if they're not constantly just trying to hold on and have a fumble return for a touchdown or a pick six to supplement the offense, which can't do anything. And I assume Russell Wilson is going to be the starter. I think they're going to be a little more explosive with Arthur Smith. I think that makes the defense better. We know the defense has the pieces. I think having a better offense necessarily makes the defense better. - Yeah, I'd agree with that. I think that makes a lot of sense. I mean, I think that when you look at TJ Watt and what he's capable of doing in each and every play, that makes a lot of sense. So yeah, I can certainly see the Steelers being better defensively. - All right, next topic. And these are different. If you watched yesterday and you remember that we did this yearbook thing with the AFCs, these are different topics as we go through it. This is the dynamic duo. Dynamic, that's a good point. Dynamic duo from the AFC North. - Give me Jamal Chase and Joe Burrow, right? I mean, you mentioned it a little bit there when you're talking about their offense. But if those two guys are on the field together at the same time, their chemistry's going to be on point. I mean, we know this dating back to their time at LSU. I was one of the folks who was wrong thinking that the Bengals should take an offensive lineman in Sewell and that draft instead of Jamal Chase and lo and behold, what do they do? They pick Jamal Chase and they end up going to the Super Bowl and almost winning it, right? So those two guys, when they are on the field together, I don't know that there are many more dynamic duos in the entire national football league than those two together. - I really want to find a way to work James Winston into this but we've already exhausted our James Winston budget for the year. And I was tempted to like say, Nadia Harris and Jalen Moore but I can't get past it and we're kind of flip flopping what we did with the offenses but Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry together in the same backfield. That's going to cause some guys to, you know, pee a little bit before the snap when they have to go tackle one of those guys. - One of those guys. - And you got to go against those guys. I mean, that's my God. Oh no, what do you do as a defender? If it's late and you got to stop one of them and you have to stop both of them, yeah, that's scary. - And look, we assume, we assume Derek Henry still has plenty of gas in the tank. One of the realities, you mentioned Eddie George earlier when I was trying to, you know, make a little fun of the Titan slash Oilers. For Eddie George, there wasn't any one thing that happened. There wasn't some big injury like a Terrell Davis knee injury and he's never the same. It just was gone one day. Like years of wear and tear and pounding, you just get to the point where the car won't start and if it starts, it won't run like it used to. And it's just over. I assume that's not going to happen with Derek Henry but I do wonder at what point is it just, even without one specific injury that causes him to say I'm out, is there just a point where the car just doesn't go like it used to. But I think it will this year and I think Derek Henry and Lamar Jackson together will be something to behold. All right, the Division King coaching edition. Best coach in a division with plenty of good ones. - Yeah, this is tough because I mean, I don't think that any of these guys are not good at coaches. So you really could choose any one of them for any number of reasons but for the longevity aspect, I'll go with Mike Tomlin and that's with all, you know, do respect and apologies to two time coach of the year, Kevin Stefanski because look what Mike Tomlin's done over the course of his career. I mean, he's won a Super Bowl, right? He's been competitive every single year. We always talk about how they've never had a losing season under Tomlin and I think the fact that he keeps that locker room together for the most part and you know, we don't really necessarily hear about problems until after some of those players go elsewhere. Like that to me just makes him so good as a head coach. And, you know, if the Steelers, and we've said this before, but if the Steelers ever decided to part ways with him, there would be coaches fired in order for those owners to line up at Mike Tomlin's door with a Brinks truck. - I mean, I want to pick another guy and if I did, it would be John Harbaugh but Tomlin is the quintessential football coach. He's new age and a throwback all in one. He truly doesn't care about what anyone else has to say about him or the team. He's got one mission. Get my guys ready. Get them to play better than their individual talents would suggest and find a way, find a way. And it drives me crazy. There's that group of Steelers fans every year that wants to fire Mike Tomlin. Every year, whenever there's two losses in a row or, you know, that feeling that maybe they're not going to finish. The fact that the guys never had a losing season in the National Football League, where everything is set up to have true parity. You're going to have good years. You're going to have bad years. He's never had a losing season. And last year, last year was the year to have the losing season and they still finished 10 and seven. And this team-- - My little boy off. - Think about this, the Pittsburgh Steelers have not finished last in their division. And at one point, their division had six teams in it. It's had four teams in it since 2002. They have not finished last since 1988. That's incredible, incredible when you think about it. And the problem is-- - Before I was born. - I was asked this yesterday. Thanks for the reminder. I was 23. I was asked this question yesterday about the AFC North. I don't think the Steelers are going to finish in last place this year. I think what's going to happen. And again, I don't want to put the Hex on any quarterbacks. And this gets to the point, you know, Steelers fans are all twisted up because, oh, we don't play any teams from the division until week 11. You should want to wait until week 11. Because look at the history of the quarterbacks in your division. Chances are one is going to be injured. By the time you have to play those teams. Maybe two, maybe three. So you don't want them early. You don't want to come out of the gates as you're trying to find your way with this new offense. You don't want to go Baltimore Cleveland Cincinnati the first three weeks. So you kidding me? Save those games for later because you will be better by the time you do that home and home, round robin in the AFC North. So I think it's Mike Tomlin. And I think they're going to be better than people think they are. And having an offense that's going to be better can't be much worse is going to be a huge lift for the Pittsburgh Steelers, especially defensively and overall. All right, most likely to lift the Lombardi trophy out of the AFC North. - This kind of pains me to say as a Cleveland native to give that the skylight-- - You live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati. - Yeah, but I got to say it's the bangles, man. And you know, when Joe burrows healthy, that is a team that is a Super Bowl contender. Like you've just pointed out earlier in the segment, we've seen it. So I think that, you know, they kind of have, in some ways like a last dance vibe going on over there because this is by all accounts of last year that they're going to have T Higgins. And if Joe burrow is recovered to the first year, he's ever been able to get through a training camp without incident, right? And I know he's not necessarily practiced with Jamar Chase yet until this week, but like that offense, the way that they can do things, the way that Joe burrow just stays flatline, so Joe cool, you know, and we'll have them competitive in January, to me, it's them. - In six years as a starter, the worst case scenario for Patrick Mahomes is losing in overtime in the AFC Championship, which is amazing. - Yep. - And the two quarterbacks who delivered that fate to him were Tom Brady and Joe burrow. And Joe burrow almost got him again the next year. - Yeah. - Joe burrow is the closest thing to crypto night that Patrick Mahomes has currently in the NFL. So if it's Baltimore against Kansas City, give me Kansas City. If it's Cleveland against Kansas City, give me Kansas City, Pittsburgh against Kansas City, give me Kansas City. Kansas City and Cincinnati, can I wait as long as it's humanly possible to make a decision? - Right. - Because the Bengals are the one team in the league in a single elimination setting there, the one team that I would consider picking to beat the Chiefs because no matter what the talent disparity, this goes back to Super Bowl 57. As we were getting ready to do Eagles Chiefs, the whole week, what I said was the Eagles are better, but they don't have Patrick Mahomes. At the end of the day, that's gonna be the difference. And until he loses that magic, until the rest of the league catches up with him, until somebody figures it out other than Joe Barrow. Joe Barrow is the only guy that has a chance to get past the Chiefs and win a Super Bowl. All right, that was good. We got them all in the same place. - And shout out Luanna Rumo, too. Shout out Luanna Rumo, too, for his defensive approaches against Kansas City. You know, I think we'd be remiss if we didn't say that. - You're trying to get him a head coaching job, so it'll be the hell out of Cincinnati. All right, do you want him to win? You don't want your Browns to have to keep dealing with him. - Browns do well in Cincinnati, I don't know. Michael Parsons is lobbying for more money, but not for him, for another position on the defensive side of the ball. We'll delve into that next tier on PFT Live. There are your odds for defensive player of the year, led by Michael Parsons at the Cowboys and TJ Watt of the Steelers, both at plus 550. Max Crosby not far behind, there's Miles Garrett, Nick Bosa, Aiden Hutchinson. So, look, it's always driven by stats, who gets the most sacks, who gets the most interceptions, whatever the case may be, but all those guys are great. It could be any of them. Team achievement also tends to factor into who we're looking at when it's time to cast those votes. - No doubt, yeah, which is, well, that's interesting to me that Max Crosby is so high, and I mean this with no disrespect intended to Max Crosby, who I do think is one of the premier edge-rushers in the National Football League right now, but based on what we know about, I almost called him Oakland, about Las Vegas's offense, like that's gonna be a tough proposition, because I mean, I feel like the defense is gonna be on the field a lot for the Las Vegas Raiders this year, despite how good they potentially can be. They're gonna be in some dog fights. - Yeah, I mean, look, and it's gonna be tough with the quarterback position and the division they're in, and yeah, they're gonna need Max Crosby who maybe have 30 sacks to will them into contention. All right, Michael Parsons, I still think he should've held out, and Cowboys fans don't wanna hear that, but I don't care. I'm not setting foot on the field at a position that has a pretty high injury rate until I get my contract. I'm surprised he didn't do it, but he didn't do it. He did comment on his podcast earlier this week about receiver contracts, which are now at 35 million per year as the high watermark in new money, and corners, which are still kinda spinning in the mud at 20. Here's Parsons with his views on that discrepancy. - I think it's time for a bump to the cornerback market. I mean, all these receivers are making 30 million plus dollars a year, and there's guys on islands, 'cause we in, man, we in cover three, they gotta be covering these dudes. I think it's time for the cornerback market to make it jump because these bar receivers is making 30 plus million. Think about, look at offensive tackles, right? Muffins attack was there, damn, they're at 20, 30 million, and the best pass rush was as messed up was around between 25 to 35 million, so why wouldn't the cornerback market make it jump like the receiver market, to be honest with you? I think we got to show more love to the cornerback market, man, these guys is out there on islands with these guys, covering them each and every week, and it's such a drastic. I mean, kinda look at the cornerback market. These guys are signing 17, I think, they're a A.J. Toreau designed for a 20 APY, but they're ranging from 17 to 20, and I think having such a 10 to 15 million difference is substantial, especially in today's football game and market, so it's something to really look at it. - After Mike Parsons agents saw that segment, he called Mike and said, "Will you please shut the hell up until we get you your contract?" Because it's still a zero-sum game, every dollar that goes to one position is one less that's available with the other position, I'm kidding, that didn't actually happen, but Micah, Micah, don't start stumping for other positions to have increased market because it does affect the market and the money available at others, but the bottom line is the two most important positions in football are quarterback and pass rusher. He's gonna get his at some point, and it's gonna be a lot more than it would have been this year, but the cowboys are getting him this year for like three or four million dollars, which is ludicrous when you think about it. He should not be playing. Remember the Unabomber manifesto that Kyle or Murray's agent put out that you needed a magnifying glass or an electron microscope to read the damn thing? The whole point was he's entering the fourth year of his contract, he's not playing for that amount of money, he's not doing it. Micah Parsons should have done the same damn thing. - I-- - Not with the, not with the manifesto. - Not with the manifesto. - No, I didn't know where the hell you were going with that. You should say in Unabomber, but yeah, I tend to agree. I mean, and this is sort of the way I thought about Justin Jefferson last year, right? You know, that is a guy that, because he's proven it, you know, over the course of three years, then yeah, you pay that guy before year four. It's the principle that Kyle or Murray's agent came up with, and it worked. You know, they paid him, I believe, before training camp. So that's sometimes the way these things go, and I think it's a good strategy by the agent in order to do it that way. But I mean, I think, you know, aside from his market, you know, whatever, I think he does have a point, you know, and it's interesting because we don't necessarily think of anybody right now. I don't think, like we used to, you know, a little bit over a decade ago where it was Riva Silen. Like, who are really the premier, premier corners in the game? Jalen Ramsey, obviously one of those guys, that he roves around, you know, he can do so many different things as a defensive back. I mean, I don't know, I mean, he mentioned AJ Turrell and getting, you know, 20 million a year, whatever it is. But that's not necessarily the guy where I'm thinking, oh, that's shut down corner. And part of this is the rules, right? Everything is made for offense. So it's not easy for defensive backs to become great cover guys. And I apologize to all the folks that I am not thinking of in my mind right now. But that, I think that also has something to do with it. It's, A, it's harder to be an elite corner right now. And B, I don't really know how many elite corners we have in the National Football League at this point. - Is it as simple as the best athletes who could either run the routes or cover the routes are choosing to run the routes and use those gloves that will stick to anything and be the receiver instead of the defensive back? I mean, how many little kids aspire to be a great defensive back? Really? You aspire to be the one that catches the game-winning touchdown pass in the Super Bowl, not the guy that breaks up the potential game-winning touchdown pass in the Super Bowl, but that may be part of it that the best of the best who can do those things. And it is a slightly different skill set. The receiver knows where he's going. The defensive back doesn't, defensive back has to react and read and be smart and understand when to cut and not to get turned around and not to get fooled and don't peek in the backfield. I mean, I think it's harder to be a high-end corner than it is to be a high-end receiver and it may just be that no one stands out. Bottom line, no one stands out. There's no Dion Sanders. There's no, remember when Bobby Taylor, you were probably like four years old then, like big corner, there was a trend toward big tall corners. He was an equal defensive back, Google it. But yeah, where is that shutdown, Dorel Rivas? We just haven't, it's just not, it's just not there. So- - Right. It's a long order. - The receivers are gonna be the ones who make the money. Even though, I wonder when this receiver market is gonna sputter because every year, you got rookies coming in, playing well. Malik neighbors is gonna make 29 million over four years. Total. - Mm-hmm. - In the top of the markets, 35 now. I just wonder whether there's gonna be a middle class, a middle group, a Brandon Iyuk type of a guy that can't get the huge money. And before you pay them close to it, you'll just say, I'll go draft Ricky Piersall instead. - Well, this is, I mean, that's kind of what the Titans tried to do, right? With AJ Brown, when they sent him over. Yeah, sure did, they sent him to Philadelphia. They draft trail on Birx and John Robinson ends up getting fired. So if you're gonna do that, you better make sure that you got it right. I mean, and I guess, you know, speaking of the Titans, you know, I was looking at this up, well, you're a sneeze, right? Think thought of as potentially the best chiefs cover guy. I mean, he got traded to Tennessee for a third round pick in 2025. So, I mean, it's not necessarily like, even guys on really, really good defensive units are being thought of as, oh my gosh, we have to go out and we have to send a bunch of picks or, you know, high value picks in order to pick this guy up. And part of that was sneeze contract situation. I don't wanna just dismiss that, but that is something that I think it's worth thinking about. - Another bottom line is the best way to disrupt an offense is with a pass rush. Because the receivers are good enough. They're getting open. If they have time and the quarterback has time, they're getting open. You gotta get to the quarterback and disrupt him and hurry him and force him to make bad decisions, throw bad footballs. That's the way you're gonna shut an offense down. All right, Draft King Sportsbook is the number one place you 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 app and use promo code PFTLive when you sign up. We'll take a break. When we return the 2024 draft set of record with six quarterbacks picked in round one, hopefully those guys don't suffer the same fate as the 2022 quarterback draft class. We'll look at that next tier on PFT Live. 2022 quarterback draft class, an unmitigated disaster. And I guess it's fitting that the one guy that is still starting is the last guy who was drafted in the entire 250 plus selection process, Brock Purdy, everyone else. And I remember the run up to the draft because every year we focus on quarterback. Well, that year was just a bad, bad year. And Kenny Pickett was the first one taken, done. Desmond Ritter, and to his credit, he didn't like any of these guys. He really didn't, like there was talk at one point about the Panthers maybe taking Kenny Pickett in round one. He said, what's gonna happen when Kenny Pickett shows up and Sam Darnell's there at off-season workouts and Sam Darnell's throwing lasers. And Kenny Pickett's just kind of like, okay. I mean, there's nothing that Kenny Pickett does that you look at and say this guy's special at an NFL level. And none of these other guys, had anything that you look at and say this guy's special. And the last two, still with the team, Skyler Thompson and Brock Purdy, and both of them started a playoff game. Now Thompson didn't earn it. He was playing because of injury, but still, the last two guys taking that year. - Brock Purdy was too at first. - Well, that's true, but now Purdy's like the guy that's gonna get paid a lot of money after the year. But what a disastrous 2022 quarterback draft class was. - Yeah, sometimes the analysts get it right, you know, where I remember the same as you. There was no excitement over the quarterback class in 2022. And then it ends up like this, where I mean, you can look at that list and say, well, is Bailey Zappi the most successful quarterback? Yeah, is Sam Howell? Like, I mean, my gosh, like that's not good. You know, Desmond Ritter not only was traded from the Falcons, he couldn't even make the Cardinals. He's getting beat up by Clayton, name that tune. So yeah, this was a bit of a disaster of a quarterback class, Brock Purdy really, the one that saves it. And you know, at a certain point, it's like, man, I just, you don't know what the things are gonna be, but my gosh, this one is really ugly. - Desmond Ritter is the ultimate example of a guy who has every possible intangible that football coaches love. And they thought they could figure out how to get him to do all the other stuff that you need to do, tangibly, in order to be a great quarterback. And it just, it just didn't work. And yeah, it didn't work for most of those guys, but it is working for Brock Purdy and Skyler Thompson. Hey, he's the guy that survived the cut, Mike White gone, Skyler Thompson will be the backup to Tu at Tonga by low. And even though his services weren't needed last year, we'll see the lighter, skinnier tool might have a harder time getting through all 17 games. All right, let's take a break. When we return, we talked about the AFC North earlier. We're gonna rank the toughest divisions in the entire NFL, when PFT Live continues right after this. - Favorite team to play against? Good question, good question. I'll say the fairies. (indistinct chatter) Sue. - Yo, are you looking to become the owner of the Bears or what? - Oh, yes, definitely. (upbeat music) - Parkinson's back to Aaron Rodgers, repeated boasts that he owns the Bears. And, you know, it is one of the all-time great rivalries in the NFL, but the Packers have had the better of it lately. That could be changing with Caleb Williams in Chicago, Jordan Love looking great last year. NFC North, a very good division. What we're gonna do is we're gonna rank the three toughest divisions. And this isn't a draft. We each have our own list. So there may be some overlap and duplication. But Miles, I'll let you go first. What is your third toughest division in football? - I feel like we spend enough time talking to each other and you have rubbed off enough on me, which for better or worse, may mean that there is a lot of overlap in this. Yeah, definitely worse. But I was trying to, at least not be so cynical. - Let me be the one. Let me be the one to say worse. You say better, I say worse. - All right, that's fine. But let me go to the third toughest division. I'll say the AFC East. And I say that because I think that there are probably three different teams that I can see winning that division. I mean, between the Bills, who are not the favorite, which we talked about earlier in this show, but the Jets, if things go right for them, yeah, they absolutely can win the division. If you have Aaron Rodgers playing at a high level with that offense and with the defense that we know is still gonna be good under Robert Salah, that's another one. And the Dolphins, did they get tougher over the course of the offseason? I don't necessarily know yet. But whenever you've got Tyre Rekill and Jalen Walla on the outside, you know, when, to a Tungavile Loa gets paid and he's throwing them the ball, that's a pretty darn good offense right there. So that's where I go with the AFC East. - Toughest is a word that has a certain malleable quality in this context. Toughest to navigate or best top to bottom with the toughest teams. I'm gonna go with the AFC West either way, because the Chiefs are there and they have Patrick Mahomes. And the Chargers are going to be better under Jim Harbaugh. And I think the Chargers and Chiefs fans get soft set when I say this. Okay, fine. If I'm wrong, you should be happy. I think the Chargers are gonna give the Chiefs everything they can handle with Jim Harbaugh as the head coach. The Broncos with Bonix at quarterback and Sean Payton working together will be better. And then there are the Raiders who, you know, Antonio Pierce pressed buttons. They've made the Chiefs look very bad in their own building on Christmas day. So I'll go with the AFC West, even if the Chiefs are the far most likely team to win it, top to bottom, they're better than the division gets credit for. - I think that's a good pick. I mean, my second toughest though would be the NFC North, just based on what I feel. I mean, if Gigi McCarthy hadn't gone down, I might have been tempted to pick this one as the first toughest division in football, just based on what we've seen. I mean, I think the Packers are gonna be really good this year. I think that the Bears are certainly gonna be better. You know, we've seen some flashes from Kayla Williams. That was already a solid team last year. We just know that they needed to get better offensively. I mean, you look at what Detroit is doing. They are one of the teams that really could make and win the Super Bowl. So I gotta say the NFC more. - All right, just to make it interesting, I'm gonna put the AFC North here because of the thing I mentioned earlier that makes me confident the Steelers won't finish in fourth place. We have three starting quarterbacks with real injury histories. And we can't ignore that, especially at quarterback. The best quarterbacks are available each and every week like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Tom Brady, except when he missed the entire season in 2008. But nevermind that, he otherwise answered the bell every week or unless he was suspended. But other than that, he was there every week. The AFC North doesn't have that. The NFC North could have that. And I think they've got multiple teams, Bears, Lions, Packers, that could make serious runs deep into the postseason. All right, we'll be back with our toughest divisions. I think you can guess what they are next year on PFP Club. All right, it does not take the crystal ball to come to the conclusion as to who we believe the toughest division is based upon the divisions we both put at number two miles. What is your number one toughest division? - My number one is the AFC North. And I think it's because I can see all four of those teams making the playoffs. But also, I mean, this is a tough division, right? This is hitting. You know, we talk about AFC North football. That is significant stuff. So I think that this is the toughest division in football. - Well, there is one division that was known years before you were born as the black and blue division. And that was the old NFC Central, the John Ficenda 10 to nine games between the Vikings, the Bears, the Packers and the Lions. They've been clustered together all these years. And this is the first time in a long time that on paper, the Vikings are the worst of the four. All four of them could make it to the playoffs. So that's it for today. 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