Grant and Danny
Around The NFL
Hey NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDul, America's number one sports book. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play-by-play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's fandul.com/sportsfan. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDul, an official sports book partner of the NFL. Must be 21-plus and present in Colorado, first online real money weights are only $10 first deposit required. Bonus issue does now withdrawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt, restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fandul.com, gambling problem, call 1-800-522-4700. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue. And guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance too, with the name of your price tool from Progressive. It works just the way it sounds. You tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive. Progressive casually insurance company and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law. The seasons may be changing, but the deals at the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha Mckia, and I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings events. Where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right, everything is on sale now. Shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures. Plus, with their exclusive financing options, getting behind the wheel of your dream car has never been easier. Log on and shop online at the sharpestrides.com right from the palm of your hands. Or check other massive inventory in person at the sharpest rides, located 2,250 South Sea Home Street in Inglewood. Either way, you will fall into savings. Don't miss out, head on over to the sharpestrides.com today and explore the deals that make every season better. And tell them that your girl, Tasha Mckia sent you the sharpest rides, affordable, sexy, sharp. Danny, thought we could go around the NFL here with some people, could be coaches, could be players, could be teams. And have to show some folks that are on the hot seat in the national football league going into the 2024 season. I'll start New York, Robert Salah. I like Robert Salah. I'm a fan. I was a fan of his when he was in San Francisco was a fan of him getting the gig. The wins haven't happened. There have been reasons for that. They've had a astoundingly bad quarterback play. He was saddled with that a little bit. They've had talented strong rosters that hasn't done a whole heck of a lot over his three years. Four and thirteen, seven and ten, seven and ten. Now, if and when Aaron Rodgers is healthy for the entire season and then it'll make expectations, all of a sudden, fingers might start getting pointed. I'm going to go with the dolphins in that division. The dolphins have been the best team in football in the first half of the last two years. And then they fall off as the year goes on. Then the playoffs come and they kind of become a shallow themselves. And nine and eighteen that lost in the first round in twenty twenty two and an eleven and sixteen that again lost in the first round in twenty twenty three. That nine and eight record very deceiving again because of how they finished the season. And there's always ways you can explain it away. Last year they played in a playoff game that was the coldest postseason game on record in history in Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium. That's no fun for anybody. But their offense is if you look at it from the first half to the second half, cool off and then the team does as well as the weather does. And it's just become kind of the expectation that everyone's gotten paid. They kept to around huge contract. They kept Mike McDaniel around today on an extension as they show he's very, very smart. But I do think it's time for the dolphins to break through here or else it just feels to me like they're the Phoenix Suns in the NBA years ago. When they had this great regular season team, 60 wins, Steve Nash and Amari Stautomier and all these guys up and down the floor. But when it came time to play like half court games against San Antonio, you had no chance. And I'm starting to feel like the dolphins are trending in that direction stylistically. The Cincinnati Bengals cheating here a little bit, putting a big group together. But if I told you the Cincinnati Bengals at the end of the season are five and twelve, they're uncertain whether Joe Burrow will ever be the same again. And this roster that was primed to be a Super Bowl contender for the last few seasons, having gotten to one just a couple of years ago, is sort of set a drift. Or they're twelve and five, won that division and are playing in the AFC title game against Pat Mahomes in company. I could absolutely 100% see both scenarios. This injury that Joe Burrow is coming back from, not a lot of precedent for it. No one's really sure what it's going to be, what it's going to look like. There are a lot of years and a lot of dollars rightfully so for the 26 year old signal caller headed his way over the next several years. But this could be something that we're not really prepared for here that Cincinnati, the bottom falls out. We also need to be prepared for them to be a juggernaut and awesome. And maybe win the best division in sports. They're the team that I've got the biggest variants on heading into the season. And I don't know which way to lean. Deshawn Watson, if I'm going to just keep following you division by division, you won't do it. The Cleveland Browns quarterback got a five year, two hundred, thirty million dollar contract, which sounds like a lot. And then you find out that every single penny was fully guaranteed, unprecedented, crazy contract. At the time, it made no sense. I think you and I, if memory serves, we're at a hooters when this story broke in Fairfax around the NCAA tournament a couple of years ago. Sounds right to me. I just remember being when I first saw the details on the Deshawn Watson contract. He's 28 now. He's been in Cleveland for two very bad seasons. He was outplayed two years ago by Jacoby Brissette. And he was outplayed last year by 400 year old street free agent. All this cash. His two seasons there, he's basically completed 59% of his passes. And it's really ugly, bad, gross numbers for Watson. And what's amazing is this team around him is really good. They went five and one in his six games he started last year, despite having seven touchdowns, four picks and struggling worse than those numbers would indicate. But it is time because here's why, even though it's fully guaranteed, the way they structured the contract, Danny, the cap hit last year for him was 19 million. This year, 28 million, not that big of a deal. Two years after this, $73 million cap hits for Deshawn Watson. Now they'll tack on all the voidable years and they'll lower those numbers and they'll get creative and they're screwed no matter what. But my goodness, if he does not play better this year, we'll know definitively that's the worst contract ever given out in the sport. Trevor Lawrence. Are we sure the pedigree is unbelievable, but are we sure he's great? He got paid like he's great. He's got one really good season to his credit. There are reasons why the other seasons weren't as good. I'm aware that the nonsensical urban Meyer situation that made no sense at any point in time, you sort of take that away. That's fine. We're still talking about a guy that was pretty disappointing last year for a team that was also disappointing. Now, I know they finished with an identical nine and eight record, but everybody thought that was the team on the rise. Remember, they had one of these signature wins in recent memory that come back win against the Los Angeles Chargers. They took Kansas City, gave them everything they could handle in the postseason and then I think losing my field goal. This is a couple years ago and last year, we're just kind of around. They were middling. They were okay. There are moments of brilliance from Lawrence, but at some point, great players play great, right? At some point, if you've been doing this for a while and we just sort of give you a pass because you're going to mourn overall pick. And everyone that you were ready to play in the NFL probably as a freshman, a dealing at Clemson, you've been expected. You've been anointed for a while at certain point, the production has to meet it, right? He's kind of in the cool kids club because he was drafted very high. And again, he's had one really, really good season, but surrounding that, it's been one bad one. And we're pretty mediocre one at a certain point. Are you going to be great? That's my question. All right, so we're going to the AFC South. You won't. I've got two and I can't choose between them. So I'm going to give you both. I'll be a little quicker with them. Both are GMs, by the way. The first is Chris Ballard of the Colts. I love Chris Ballard. I think he's really good. He's been the GM there since 2017. You're going on to year seven now and they're further away at this point. It feels like then they were four years ago, certainly early on in his tenure when they had Frank Reich, who everybody liked and a situation where it looked like they were a playoff fountain. Ten wins, won't lost in the division round in 2018, 2020. Remember, they got to the playoffs 11 and five. They've routinely been nine or better in wins last year, nine and eight with Shane Steichen in his first season. Ballard at a press conference. I saw a couple of days ago where he said, basically, if the way I do things gets me fired or, you know, if I end up losing my job over, you know, how we've built this team. So be it. When you start saying things like that, it's a pretty clear indicator. You're being asked tough questions. The walls are caving in a little bit. I happen to think he's very good at what he does and I like him. So I hope he has success and keeps his gig. But I do think they've got to win this year. I think they've got to be a nine plus win team again. I like them. Ten or more wins or else like if they're seven and ten, he could be in trouble. The other GM in that division is a ran. He is the general manager of the Tennessee Titans. Here's why he's on the hot seat for me or has some tough questions to answer. This is the guy that got into the. Spat with Mike Rebel, where they had to choose between the two ownership. It shows Karthan over Rebel, a former coach of the year that everybody really, really liked. Rebel, who has not had but, you know, two losing seasons each over the last couple of years, but early on, nine and seven, nine and seven, eleven and five, twelve and five got to a conference championship at one point in time. They ran him out of town by day. I mean, I think mostly his relationship with his GM, we butted heads with. Karthan decided to go the complete opposite direction, which I don't hate. But he went away from the defensive leader of men. He went with Brian Callahan, the offensive minded coach to pair him with Will Levis, who he chose last year as his quarterback. It's a big year for him. Did you make the right choice at quarterback? Did you make the right choice with your head coach? Did firing Rebel end up looking stupid or looking smart? It's now all on him. And whenever you have a huge stare down with a coach and you win, all of a sudden, it's time to put up a shut up. So I put him in that category as we're looking at the folks in the NFL with the most on the line and the most heat on their seats going into the season. So this one, I don't agree with for the record, but I think the reality is, I think this is the case, Nick Sirioni. What if I told you, I'll go old school, 30 for 30 style? What if I told you that a coach that is one, exactly, not approximately, exactly two thirds of his games? That is a six, six, seven rounding up, winning percentage is somehow on the hot seat, but he is, we all saw how it ended last year. It was the most violent market correction in human history when it when it comes to sports, potentially Philadelphia coming off a Super Bowl appearance where they were very much in contention, could have won the game. Well, and I'm finishing 11 and six last season, but they collapsed down the stretch. We all saw it. Assistant coaches were fired. Everything regressed. Everything was bad. Yadda, yadda, yadda, yadda. Again, an 11 and six season Washington, by point of comparison, has not won 11 games in a season since before Ryan Clary was born. And it's like a decade before he was born. All right, let's all settle down, but the expectations are high. The division is ripe for the taking. Dallas looks to be fine. I think even pretty good. They'll be neck and neck and the division never has repeat winners, but Philadelphia is in the best place to do it. Enter Kellen Moore, Jalen Hertz is an MVP candidate that offense has every weapon under the sun. It's well built. They are here and ready with one of the best GMs in the sport. So yeah, there's extra pressure and heat on Nick Serioni. Stores take us to summers away. Or winter adventures and afternoon getaways. Your dedicated Fidelity advisor can help you open those doors by working with you on a comprehensive plan to help you reach your wealth's full potential because doors were meant to be opened. Visit fidelity.com/wealth. Investment minimums apply Fidelity brokerage services, LLC member NYSE SIPC. Hey NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on FanDuel, America's number one sports book. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play by play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's fanduel.com/sportsfan. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sports book partner of the NFL. Must be 21 plus and present in Colorado. First online real money weights are only $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued is now with drawable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt, restrictions apply, see terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com gambling problem. Call 1-800-522-4700. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue. And guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance too with the name of your price tool from Progressive. It works just the way it sounds. You tell Progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive, Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law. If you want a hot seat in the NFC East, I'll go Mike McCarthy, head coach Dallas Cowboys. Of course. He's on the hot seat. It seems like every single year he's on the hot seat. This is the year I think where if they don't get to an NFC Championship game, he's probably out of luck. And it's kind of silly, honestly, because he took over, you know, a six-win program and they've gone 12 and five, three straight years. But it's pretty obvious. They're not getting closer from a personnel standpoint. Now, maybe you can mix some potions. Dak has a great year with CDLAM and, you know, they move forward with a bad running back room and their defense without Dan Quinn. Now they've got Mike Zimmer in there to run the defense. And somehow they find a way to make a Super Bowl run. That would save his gig. But otherwise, there's going to be too much noise. People just don't like this guy for whatever reason. Every single year they lose in the playoffs. It's his fault. He's a big idiot. He's a big boob. He's a big dummy. How could you possibly keep him? Analysts who are normally calm or screaming on national television. I don't understand why he's such a lightning rod. And people think he's such a goof. When all the guy does is win 12 games everywhere he goes. It was only Aaron Rodgers. I don't think Aaron Rodgers is in Dallas. Now I'm sure it's only Dak, although he didn't win 12 games before he was there. But I digress. He'll be out if they don't make a Super Bowl run. This one's not a hot seat in the sense of losing your job. But I think this is a something to prove. You were just talking about the Eagles killing hurts, man. That's back last year was not good. It was bad. He went from you called him an MVP candidate. He certainly was after the 2022 season. It didn't play like it last year. I mean, that was a kind of a phony pro bowl appearance season for him. But touchdowns down interceptions up like everything about their offense. Less efficient. He was a big reason why I'm still a big believer. He's only 26 years old, but really needs a bounce back season. Yeah, it was masked by those 15 rushing TDs. I say again, 15 rushing touchdowns. How many of those were from a half yard out on the touch push 14? I was going to say 12 11. Yeah. So my point is the numbers were were, you know, people don't think of it as a disaster season because of those, but I think this should consider us. So this is a slightly different angle on the heat situation. So bear with me. How about Bobby Sloeck, offensive coordinator in Houston? OK, they were the league's darlings last year. They had a winner take all of that AFC South division game. The end of the season against the Colts. They want it. Good for them. What a playoff game there. They're now crowned. Everybody's picking them as the, you know, every talking head hot take screaming show are these the guys that can take down Kansas City. Like they're the new number one challenger, right? Since they had their chance, Buffalo had their chance. Now it's Houston. I'm a little, of course, we're not so fast, my friend. Those other teachers still pretty good, but there's now a ton of pressure. They went out and had a banner off season. They added everything you could possibly add, including Stefan Diggs, to an already really good receiving room. Bobby Sloeck, if there's any kind of regression, any kind of, you know, sort of stalling out of this offense, it's got everything that you could want under the sun. This is a guy that was basically, you know, I thought of as one of the hot head coaching candidates and waiting over the last couple of seasons, especially with that performance last year. If it doesn't go right, all of a sudden, I'd say a lot on the line form this year. NFC North is where I'll go next head coach Matt Eberflus of the Chicago Bears. I don't understand why they kept him. I know he did an incredible job defensively in the second half of last year. He took over plate calling after they fired their DC. They became a top 10 defense. He's popular enough in the building from what it seems like with hard knocks, with his new image. He's got a cool guy haircut and everybody seems to like him more than they did when he was about to be fired quite literally on the precipice of being fired. Reports were swirling. If they lost in Washington last year on Thursday night football about four weeks into the season, he was going to be axed. They put up 41 big and their season was saved, but he did some weird things. In addition to him having his job still with the number one pick and Caleb Williams looming, I thought it was a no brainer. You could hire any offensive mind in America. You want college pro probably go do it. They decided to keep the defensive minded coordinator, whatever. That's weird. Then he hired Shane Waldron. I like Shane Waldron. I'm wellmed by him. I don't love him necessarily. I would say Shane Waldron is under some pressure too. You got not only Caleb Williams to play with at quarterback, but DJ Moore, Roma Dunes, a Keenan Allen at wide receiver. There's just no reason for this offense not to be excellent. There's no reason for this team to not be a playoff caliber team. Madie Berflus, as odd as it is after making a number one overall pick last year, I think has expectations of being a 10 or so wind team. If it doesn't happen, I could see them trying to find like Ben Johnson or some other offensive coach this off season to come in there with Caleb Williams. Well, more Jackson has a rep that I've always argued and we've even argued about it a little bit. That isn't fair. The expectations for him are a little bit strange to me. This is a multi-time MVP who hasn't done it yet. No one else has done it in the AFC, either, as long as Pat Mahomes has been there. Joe Burrow got close. They got by him one time. Tom Brady did as well when the overtime rules were stupid, but Lamar Jackson, multi-time MVP without that commiserate playoff success overwhelmingly. So hosting LaBardi Trophy, even getting to a Super Bowl that kind of goes with that. So this is a big year for Baltimore. Again, the division is a buzzsaw. They probably got worse on paper. That program is so good. I don't expect them to take much of a step back. I know you're a little bit lower on them than I am. I just feel like they get out of bed. They're going to win 10 or 11 games because that's what Baltimore does. They'll replace guys that we knew as household names with guys that we don't who become household names because that's a machine up there. But a lot of pressure on the multi-time MVP to kind of finally break through here this season. Hey NFL fans, you can start the season with a big return on Fandell, America's number one sports book. So when you get a hunch in the middle of the game, you can check out the latest stats, view live play-by-play and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. That's Fandell dot com slash sports fan. Never waste a hunch and make every moment more with Fandell, an official sports book partner of the NFL must be 21 plus and present in Colorado. First online real money weights are only $10 first deposit required. Bonus issued is now a throwable bonus bets that expire seven days after receipt restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook dot Fandell dot com gambling problem. Call 1-800-522-4700. This episode is brought to you by progressive insurance. Whether you love true crime or comedy, celebrity interviews or news, you call the shots on what's in your podcast queue and guess what? Now you can call them on your auto insurance too with the name of your price tool from progressive. It works just the way it sounds. You tell progressive how much you want to pay for car insurance and they'll show you coverage options that fit your budget. Get your quote today at progressive dot com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust progressive progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law. The seasons may be changing, but the deals and the sharpest rides are unbeatable as ever. Hey, what's going on? It's your girl, Tasha McKeea, and I need you to join the sharpest rides for their fall into savings events where they're offering incredible prices on their massive inventory. That's right. Everything is on sale now. Shot from sleek sedans to rugged SUVs and sporty convertibles. The sharpest rides has the perfect ride to match your fall adventures. 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