Sheil Kapadia
Appearances
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
The Packers you didn't mention in there, I don't think. Did I miss the Packers? I might have missed the Packers. 21-1 Packers. Okay. They're a team that I think just had sort of a weird year where I think there's a path to them being in the mix and being really good next year.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
That has made Eagles fans much more angry than anything the Sixers are doing. They've turned their wrath to the Packers and are like, those losers, they want to ban this play that they can't stop. So that's interesting. And then I think a team that we'll get to here and talk about quite a bit, the Rams.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
We don't know what they're going to do, but if you look at sort of the Eagles Super Bowl path, who was the one team that really played them tough in the snow and it came down to the final possession, it was the Rams.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
And you can really look at the Rams the last two years and be like, if you played every season out 10 times, there's definitely a scenario where I think they get to the Superbowl each of the last two seasons. So they're another team that stands out to me a little bit as well.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I think it's the biggest story in the NFL right now. It's the biggest domino to fall. And I think it really goes back to last offseason where they were at ahead, Matthew Stafford and the Rams, with this contract. And ultimately, the Rams gave in a little bit. It didn't happen, I think, until the first day of training camp where finally they came to an agreement.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
But it's pretty clear that Matthew Stafford wants to cash in and feels like all this big quarterback money that's getting paid out there. He feels like he's playing better than those guys. And I think Peter Schrager threw out $50 million per year is what he's seeking. So this isn't just like a new thing that's cropped. That's what makes me think there's some legs to it. And he could get traded.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Now, having said that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah. And even last year, Kirk Cousins, often Achilles, similar age, got $46.5 million per year. So I get that aspect of it. And I get the aspect of the Rams saying, dude, you're going to be 37 years old. We've paid you a lot of money over the years. You're under contract. We can't commit to like three more years of Matthew Stafford because we just watched Kirk Cousins-
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Aaron Rodgers and old quarterbacks around the NFL, when the cliff comes, it comes pretty quickly. I think that's what this is about with the two sides. I don't know. They've given Stafford and his agent permission. Hey, go negotiate with other teams. See what you can get. Then the Rams can decide, hey, is that compensation worth it?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I think what's going to happen is everyone's going to take a deep breath. And the Rams are going to say, we are a good team with Matthew Stafford. We have a chance to make noise in the playoffs. We want him back. And Stafford's going to say, do I want to go chase something with the New York Giant? It's not going to be as good of a situation wherever he goes.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
And if he's thinking, hey, I want to win. I want to have that Hall of Fame resume. Maybe when my career is over, there's no better situation than Los Angeles. So if I'm making a prediction, it's that eventually they reach some type of agreement and he's back with the Rams.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
But given that it's the second year in a row and there could be hurt feelings and it could get personal, all those things, you never know.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
We are 100% on the same page. Can we just pour cold water on the Giants thing a little bit more? For a second, I'm with you. They stink. This is one of the dumbest ideas.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
They would be just making a desperate move to save their jobs, and all of a sudden, Matthew Stafford's going to go across the country at 37 years old, and they're going to rebuild their offensive line, and they're going to add more pass-catching help, and they're going to improve a defense that was bottom five in the NFL, and Stafford's going to look as good without Sean McVay.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
All those things are going to happen, and this is going to work out beautifully for the Giants. And cold weather instead of a dome. And cold weather.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Thank you. Terrible idea. So we're on the same page there. I thought I was going to surprise you with the Raiders is my wild card. That's the one I can see because I can see Tom Brady go like you just said. Dude, Matthew, come here. I can show you some ways to stay healthy, extend your career. You are one of the smartest quarterbacks in the NFL. I don't want these young guys. They're dummies.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
They can't get to the third read on the back. Now, I know you can play quarterback. We're going to bring you in. Pete Carroll, he's like, I'm not trying to rebuild anything here. Let's go get a quarterback who I know I can win with right away. So I don't love the roster. You're probably a little bit higher on the roster maybe than I am. Oh, I'm not. Don't.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Don't mistake me for being high on the roster.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, they got Brock Bowers, Max Crosby, and then they would need to rebuild things. But again, he's playing in a controlled environment indoors.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, so they had three guys there. So that's the one I looked at, and I thought, I could see the Raiders if there's a team that says, we're willing to go there. $50 million a year, two years, let's go, let's win right now. We'll give you maybe a second-round pick or whatever to the Rams. And Stafford says, hey, Pete Carroll, Tom Brady, that sounds pretty good to me.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I want to get paid what I'm worth.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, it's tough in the AFC. Like I don't see a path really for them to get to the Super Bowl, but it's not about that for every team. Yeah. Can they win? Can they be competent again? Yeah. Can they sneak into the playoffs and have a moment where they've just been such a beat down franchise? I think that is within the realm of possibilities there.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I spent all morning, by the way, Bill, just placing team with quarterback. What do I think is going to happen? What's the most interesting thing? So I'm ready for this.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I think the reason why they wouldn't is because teams are kind of overconfident in their ability to evaluate quarterbacks. And we see it every year. Like this time last year, this time last year, we're talking about Jaden Daniels, but we're pointing out all the flaws.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Like no one, I don't know that anyone had to take that he's going to come in and turn around the franchise right away and be the guy. No one was that confident. And we see it year after year with the way these guys get drafted high. They don't pan out. Other guys get drafted later in the first round. or the second round.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
So I think it's fair to look at Cam Ward and say, you know, there are some questions there, but I'm with you. If you see the upside, and I think by all accounts, the people who have already studied this, and I still have to look at it a little bit closer, but they say he has the tools. He has the upside. He has the athletic traits. He has the arms. So if you have those things,
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Sometimes you just have to take a swing. And like, it's different to take a guy with the first pick than to trade three first round picks to get up to the top five. Like if you draft, if you're the Titans, you draft Kim Ward, you keep him for two years. It's not really working out. He's not the guy.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
you're just sort of back to where you are now, but with good players, because hopefully you've added pieces to the roster. It's not like, you know, you're a complete dumpster fire of a franchise and you have to come up with all these solutions. So I think that they should look into taking him if they reach the threshold of, hey, he has the upside and we got to find a quarterback.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I'm not convinced that they're going to do that just because they've been a train wreck of an organization. Let's call it what I mean. They can't figure out which way the wind blows. Who do they want the GM to be? Who do they want the coach to be? What's their plan?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I agree.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Exactly. So I sort of lean towards them being safer and just drafting the best possible player and maybe saying, hey, Cam Ward's not perfect. So let's go in a different direction. And I wonder if other teams look at Ward and say he's good enough where we want to give up draft capital and to move up to number one, or maybe we hang tight and see who falls to us.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, I'm with you. I think if you're the Titans, I would absolutely do that. Move down two spots and get a future first. That'd be smart business. The Giants would have to really... Now, the Giants are an interesting team because they are in job preservation mode. And these are the teams that act the most recklessly because they don't really care what's happening three years down the road.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, I'm getting fired next year if this doesn't work out. My favorite GMs for content. These are the best team. So maybe they do it. I sort of feel like that might even... I don't know that they'll like him that much to say, yeah, we'll give up next year's first to move up two spots.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I think the Jets need to be in just relax mode. Reset everything. I don't think this is the year for them to take a big swing on something like that for a quarterback. Just kind of rebuild the culture, add to the roster and the draft. So that would surprise me a little bit. The Raiders... A lot of sort of links between Shador Sanders and the Raiders, where he and Tom Brady have a relationship.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
He and Mark Davis, I think, have a relationship. That one's interesting to me, because I think, you know, we mentioned Stafford, but let's say Stafford's not on the table. They might look at it, and Pete Carroll's not going to be afraid to play a young quarterback. He's done that before, obviously, with Russell Wilson.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
And if Tom Brady's like, no, trust me, I just feel like whoever Tom Brady wants, that's going to be the quarterback of the Raiders. Maybe... That's wrong. But every time I'm looking at some of the options, I'm like, Tom Brady's not going to want Sam Darnold for, you know, 30 plus million dollars a year. And I'm like, Stafford, I could see it. Shador Sanders, I could see it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
And then maybe if those don't pan out.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Or are they the Aaron Rodgers team? Where again, he would look at it and say, you know what? He's a veteran, but he can still play. He's going to be good in this system. So the Raiders might be the most interesting of any of these teams that need a quarterback.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I don't think he's participating in the combine.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Eagles version of that is Tanner McKee, by the way. There are a couple of those guys who the fan base of that team is like, would you take a first for this guy? I don't know. You probably want to hold on to him.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
All right. Do you want a little wild card that I don't think is going to happen? Do I need to buckle up?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Buckle up a little bit. The Pittsburgh Steelers call the Indianapolis Colts and say, we will give you a third round pick for Anthony Richardson, a quarterback who you guys know, you don't like him anyway. You benched him last year. You brought him back in. The vibes were terrible. You want to admit your mistake. You're not going to get a first for him, obviously, at this point.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
He's been injured and he hasn't done anything yet. But we'll give you a third round pick and then you can decide what you want to do at quarterback. So Anthony Richardson goes to Pittsburgh under the Mike Tomlin umbrella. They get a young quarterback. They get a new culture. They run the football with him. And the Indianapolis Colts, Bill, They are your Sam Darnold team. They say, you know what?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
We're going to give Sam Darnold $35-ish million per year. We're going to admit our mistake with Anthony Richardson and take the third round pick. And this is going to be the trade that shakes up the NFL this offseason. How do we feel?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, I'm with you. That's the posturing you mentioned earlier with the Stafford. I think that's the Darnold stuff. Give me a break. They're going to franchise tag him and then trade him and keep a $40 million cap. Hold on. I don't see any team. We've never seen anyone do that. No, I wouldn't see it. I think the comp is the Baker Mayfield deal.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
uh, from, was it last year or two years ago where he got, I think it was 33, 33 and a half million dollars per year. It was like a three year, $100 million deal. I think that's kind of the best case scenario for Sam Darnold, where if there's a team that says, you know what, I know it didn't end well for him, but we'd like him. He can play well for us. We're going to pay him real starter money.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I think that's the number because The weird thing about the NFL is there's no kind of middle ground for these contracts. Like the only quarterback making between 15 and 30 million dollars per year is Geno Smith.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
So it's either you're a bridge quarterback and you're or a backup and you're under 15 million dollars per year or it's no, we believe in you as our starter and you're making between 30 and 60 million dollars per year.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I look at it and yeah, my, my Richardson, you know, trade was more team content than I don't expect that to happen. I'm with you. So I think you look at it, the Steelers, when I was just going through all the teams, they were one of the teams left where I said, okay, I don't have a place for Sam Darnold. So in that sense, I could see it. Is he the type of guy Mike Tomlin wants though?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
You know, like he's going to probably, I don't know what, what is Mike Tom?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, no, that's a good point. You're right. I don't know what it is. So I don't know that they would want to pay that kind of money for Sam Darnold. Would they rather just take a one-year flyer on somebody? Are they an Aaron Rodgers team? You know, potentially the Steelers.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I agree, and all the stuff that comes with it. I would want nothing to do with it. The Steelers kind of just sit back and look at who's left there, so that's why I threw them out there for him. With the Titans, if they don't draft a quarterback at one, who's playing quarterback for the Titans?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Would they look at Sam Darnold or somebody like Derek Carr and say, let's just get sort of a short-term option for a couple years while we build up the roster?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
No, I think you're right. If you have the infrastructure in place, I think the problem with a lot of these teams we're talking about and look at, do they have a good offensive line? Do they have good wide receivers? Do they have a good play caller? Now, you could have those caveats for a lot of the quarterbacks we're discussing here as well, but I do agree with you.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I would rather take a flyer on Jimmy Garoppolo for under $10 million than commit to Sam Darnold on that Baker Mayfield contract than to have all the stuff that comes with Aaron Rodgers at this age. I I would rather just buy some time because I think you're right. When he's on the field, he will give you a baseline level of competency where you will be able to run your offense.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Your other players will get their touches. You build up the roster and then you see where you're at a year from now. So, yeah, I don't think that's a wrong way to look at it. The Rams, would they if they were to trade Matthew Stafford, would they just say, hey, Garoppolo's been here. Let's do a year with Garoppolo. I think they would after that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I'm with you with these teams. Like you only get so many chances at drafting a quarterback. And it's not that the likelihood is high that you're going to hit, but it's what happens if you do actually hit. It totally changes you. And especially for a team like this, that is in cap hell, that has signed the worst contract of any player in NFL history with Deshaun Watson.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
And there's no way out of it. Like I see the rumors that, hey, go get Kirk Cousins. I mean, where does that leave you? You know, 37 year old Kirk.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Maybe. Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Okay. I like that. I hadn't thought about that. I was looking at where Kirk Cousins might end up, but I'm with you. Basically, we're on the same page with the teams at the top of the draft. I think too often teams are like, this isn't an Andrew Luck type prospect. This isn't whoever.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
We can't take them because it goes back to the job security thing because they're like, if we miss on this, we're not going to get a chance. to draft another quarterback. I do think that's a big deal. We talked about the Eagles at the top, like Howie Roseman can make mistakes. They signed Bryce Huff last year for $17 million per year and he was inactive in the Super Bowl. Guess what?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
It doesn't matter. He's allowed to take those risks. They had Carson Wentz on a huge deal and they were able to trade him. Other organizations that don't have stability, their GMs are making decisions based on, is this potentially going to get me fired?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
And they can't get that out of their head, where if you had a guy who knew he had the job for the next 15, 20 years, I bet they'd be more likely to say, hey, Kim Ward's not perfect, but we kind of like him. Let's take a flyer on this because look at what the other options are.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, I think they're I think their best case scenario is to stay put. And those quarterbacks don't go one and two. And you take a quarterback. They almost they're like the team that has to. They have to make a move. I don't even think they have a quarterback on the roster right now.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
And they're not going to be like, oh, let's sign a bridge guy like Garoppolo again for what we just talked about, because there are jobs on the line. So they have to take a swing. They seem like the Cam Ward team if he doesn't go one or two. And if he does, I think you have to maybe look at Shador Sanders there.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
My initial gut went to second round pick. I don't think you're getting a first round pick for Gino Smith at his age. You're also going to have to redo his contract. So you're making a financial commitment to him. He's going into the final year of his deal. That's interesting. Sixth for 18.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I wouldn't do that if I were the Seahawks. I don't think I would either. Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, I wouldn't either. So I don't know.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, it's true. I mean, if they had a great offseason where they were able to upgrade just the offensive line and not do anything else, we might be on here in August saying, hey, we'd like the Seahawks to win the NFC West. I mean, they won 10 games last year with a bad offensive line, with a defensive coach implementing a system for the first time.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I think their defense is going to be pretty good next year. So I'm with you. Yeah, I don't know if they give him an extension. In terms of an extension for Geno, It's either the floor is probably that Baker Mayfield deal. We talked about 33 million per year, but he might look at it and go, give me a break. Like I'm playing better.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Like you said, behind this offensive line, the salary cap has gone up. I want over $40 million per year. And then at his age in his mid thirties, if you're the Seahawks, are you comfortable doing that?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
If you're the past, yes. These quarterbacks, I don't know that the league thinks as highly of them that they would say, I'm giving up a future first. Now, I think there's a trade there to be made. Move from four to six. So second? Would you do four and six for the second? Something like that, sure. Yeah, I would think about something like that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I mean, when we're doing these, it's like, yeah, you're old. Who would say no? The Patriots, I think, are still saying yes to that, whereas the other team... the Raiders might be like, I still don't know if I want to go that high, but yeah, I think if they like Sanders and they want to go get him, I would have no issue with them making a move like that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I like him. I mean, he played, literally played left tackle in the sec, you know? And then, and then we start measuring the arm length and I like, no, he's not going to play.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Jets are a no. I mean, Garrett Wilson on his own traded, I believe, would get a first-round pick. If you look at wide receivers, I mean, AJ brought all these guys who got traded in the last five years who have been young wide receivers who are very good, get first-round picks.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Uh, yes. And even that, like if I'm the jets, I, why am I trading Garrett Wilson? Like we're like, Hey, we know he's miserable.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Listen, this is why you hire Aaron Glenn. Come to Jake Bang. Get him and get Aaron Glenn in a room with him. And he may, uh, change his tune that this is, that's why you hire Aaron Glenn to get through to some of these guys who have just been like, man, it has been miserable being a jet. Well, it's not going to be miserable anymore.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
So I, I wouldn't trade number one wide receivers on rookie contracts.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I don't think he falls below six. I sort of feel like if he's there when the Raiders draft. Yeah. So I'm with you. I don't think he even gets to seven.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
It's a good one. It was another name that I had written down for him. I would have to think strongly about doing that if I'm the Steelers. When you look at their quarterback situation in recent years, and like you said, they made the playoffs last year. It's not like they have a terrible team. They had a good defense. Things fell apart down the stretch.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah. Where'd he go? So offensively, it's not the greatest spot for Stafford when you look at just kind of the supporting cast, but you have Pickens. Maybe you can add a piece in the draft here in the later rounds. I would have to think about that if I were the Steelers and given their other options.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Wow. I actually think if I'm the Steelers...
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I would do that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I think I would do it. I know I said second round pick. Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, I'd say more than the Tua contract. Oh, Jesus. Really? Yeah. Oh, God. If I'm Purdy, maybe this... I mean, if Tua is getting $53 million per year and now the cap has gone up, how are you taking anything under than like $55 million per year? I mean, that's just what the price is for quarterbacks. Tua's not better than Purdy, I don't think.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I guess. But I think with the agents, I would be like, okay, cool. I'll play out the final year of my deal. Then you're going to tag me next year for what? $45 million per year. You're not going to be able to make any other moves. And then after that, I'm a free agent at the age of what? He's going to be in his late twenties. And I just saw what Kirk Cousins got on the open market.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
So unless I have a career ending injury, I'm going to be just fine with that. So I don't know. I think that's probably the floor. Now they could wait. The 49ers could wait, say, play out the final year of your deal, maybe tag him. Just do you want some more information before you commit that money to Brock Purdy?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I think that would be reasonable, even if it costs you a little bit more in the long run.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, it's like with Darnold, if you look at it on the whole, he probably performed statistically like the 14th or 16th best starter in the NFL. So that's kind of the bar you need J.J. McCarthy to clear. You don't need him to be like a top five quarterback. It's like with that system, with a good offensive coach, with Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, can you upgrade aspects of the offensive line?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
your offense really could be better next year than it was this year. And then you just put your faith in Brian Flores on the defensive side of the ball. So yeah, that's the whole point of drafting McCarthy is that he's on a rookie deal. You don't have to pay Darnold anymore. You can upgrade other areas of the roster.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, you're right. I think he probably would be. I think everybody, you know, the people I've heard and like and respect who do this stuff have mostly said that the quarterbacks this year would certainly go below the top four guys from last year. So I think you're right.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
The Chargers say no.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I love it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah. They got to figure out the Herbert piece.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
He's a free agent. So yeah, they don't have a lot of, they don't have a ton of talent. Like they've got good offensive tackles. They've got Herbert. They've got McConkie. So that's a nice sort of foundation, I guess, for the offense. I don't know if you trust Greg Roman to make the most out of those pieces.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
And then defensively, it's kind of has to be all coaching unless they can really add some upgrades here this offseason.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
That's right. I got the tab up right here.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
You can do it. Joe Burrow has talked about, hey, the Eagles did it. We can figure it. There are ways you can do it where you pay big money up front. You spread that cash out over the course of the.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah. The Bengals are cheap.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
You can't do it if you're cheap. Yeah. I do love, though, Burrow is actually acting. He's doing an NBA player impersonation. Have you noticed that? He's going out being like, we need to do this. We need to pay this. He is taking control of the team, putting pressure on ownership and the front office that if you guys don't do this, it's on you.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I'm telling anyone who puts a microphone in front of my face what I think we should be doing with this organization. I think it's been kind of cool, and I don't know that you see a lot of quarterbacks go out there. Usually they're like, you know, that's not my job. You know, I just, I like him, but it's a business. Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
So that, that's been a pretty fun storyline for me over the last, whatever, two, three months.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I don't know. I think if the Eagles make one move, they're going to try to keep him. But I'm listening. They could overpay, like you said. What's the price? I think the floor is probably around $14 million. And if a team wants to blow them away with a contract, it's going to be up around $18 million, I would say.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah, I mean, Parsons, it's like that Khalil Mack deal back in the day. It might be the biggest trade since like the Ricky Williams trade or something if he were actually to get dealt. When you're talking about a Hall of Fame player, premium position in his prime, pretty much 31 teams would be interested.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I think he's like the final piece for a team that can contend, like the Bills, the Eagles, the Commanders, a team that's like, hey, we're trying to win right now. The age is the only thing really for me. I think he's been durable. He's been productive.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
He's been on some bad teams, but I would say at least like a first and maybe a second that turns into a first, something like that is what I think the price is.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
It starts at two first round picks. I think it might get to three first round picks. It might get to two first round picks and two second round picks. Like I'm not even having a conversation without two first round picks. And again, it's just bad management by the Cowboys.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I think to even be considering something like that, when you, when you lucked into the thing with the Cowboys, sorry, I got to go on one last rant. Yeah. They get Dak Prescott in the fourth round. They get a number one wide receiver in CeeDee Lamb outside the top five. They get Micah Parsons, maybe the best defensive player in football, outside the top five.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Did I tell you my story on that film? He did win the Emmy. No, you did not. We were watching. My wife actually paused the screen, looked at me to be like, he could have been one of the greatest actors of this generation. He could have been Marlon Brando.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Uh, no, I think it should be out Monday morning next week. Top 50 free agents is Higgins first. You don't spoil it. I'm going to do it based on who's going to be the most expensive to least expensive. That's my plan this year. So you got to take in positional value and maybe a quarterback we just talked about to differentiate the ringers content might be first on my list.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
A little bit, but you can't wipe the smiles off everyone's faces. It usually just goes back to the Eagles and the Super Bowl and then rooting now for the Sixers to just hold on to that pick one through six. I think that's what it's returned to here.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I picked the Eagles. No, I know you did. I'm saying all the Mahomes pickers. It came down to, yes, great quarterback versus great team. And I think we knew the Eagles had the better team, numbers two through 53. I don't know anybody that picked the Eagles to blow them out in that fashion, though, the way they did. So no one does that to the Chiefs. I mean, really, it was an all-time performance.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
And that's why everybody still, anywhere you go, still has the Eagles gear on and is not ready to turn the page to any of the other teams right now.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
Yeah. I think you and I talked about quarterback analysis before and has it gone too far where now we don't care as much if the guy is winning. It's more about the film and the analytics. And Hurts has kind of been a throwback where all All season long, I know we had conversations. It's like, all right, it's a little up and down.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
And then the two biggest games of the year, he comes through and is fantastic in the NFC Championship game and the Super Bowl. So I'm with you. I think it changed his legacy and the way he's viewed, at least locally, but also nationally. And in terms of the window, They're in a good spot. You mentioned it 2017. It was like that was magical for everyone because they had never done it before.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
This feels like it's built to last. They've got young guys in the secondary. They've got young defensive linemen. They're going to bring back 10 of 11 starters, at least on offense. And so, yeah, they're in a very good spot where I would expect this. You never know if you get to another one or win another one. But the window is more open than it was, I think, the last time they won one.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I don't think they're going to trade a core player if there's an unexpected trade. If Miles Garrett... gets dealt and it's a position of need and you say, hey, we're not going to be drafting high in the next couple of years anyway. And this is a premium position, an elite player to add to the best defense in the NFL. That to me would be a Howie Roseman move. I don't know that it's going to happen.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
But when I look at the list of teams that I would say I could actually see them giving up a haul for Miles Garrett, I would put them on that list of two or three teams.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Luka’s Revenge, NFL QB Roulette, and Tales from 'White Lotus' With Sheil Kapadia and Dave Bernad
I think this is the Cowboys being the Cowboys. Let's get ourselves in the headlines for three months over some nonsense, and then we'll end up making him the highest paid defensive player in NFL history. I don't know how you take yourself seriously and trade a generational defensive player like that. But I guess who knows?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah, it might be over 50% and the conversation has been, is it hurts or is the coaching terrible? Because you'll be looking at the film and all that and everyone's pointing out no one's open and they're running the same play seven times in a game. And it's like, what are they doing? And then you watch some of these other offenses and they're beautiful and guys are getting schemed wide open.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
So that's the big argument right now. In addition to can this team win the Super Bowl? You know how Philadelphia is.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Well, the defense you have.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah, the defense is awesome. Everybody's happy with the defense. Everybody's happy with the offensive line. Saquon Barkley might have the highest approval rating of any Philadelphia athlete right now. And he's only been there for a year.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Bryce Harper. How about this? Nobody on the Sixers. No, Maxie. Everybody still loves Maxie. So Maxie is on there. Whatever. Bryce Harper is there. Yeah, but I think Saquon Barkley has only been there for a year. But I said it's the best offensive season for a Philadelphia Eagle since I've been alive. And I think that's true. And so I think, yeah, he's kind of taken over the fan base.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I think Sirianni has this Bobby Knight saying in his office that the team that makes the fewer mistakes wins or whatever the quote is. That's how they play. If you watch this last game, they are running the ball on every third and long. They're being conservative on fourth down. If Jalen Hurts has an opportunity to throw the ball to A.J.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Brown and he's not sure this year, he is just tucking the football, throwing it away and running. And so everything they do is kind of like, hey, our defense is awesome. Saquon's going to break one eventually. Let's not give the game away. And so I think that's why it looks like that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah, I don't think they're there. I think they like the team a lot. Okay, good. Yeah, I'm checking. Yeah, they like the team a lot. It's probably split on Hertz, and it's probably split on Sirianni, I would say.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah, I mean, this would go down as one of the darker upsets at home. And now there have been some of those in recent Philadelphia sports memory. I think they're justifiably six and a half point favorites in this game. They could lose, but I would be surprised if they lost this game.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah, Dibundo scared me with that one too in his column, but I feel the same way. I feel like the Chiefs have a lot of things going for them in this game. Like the way they want to play is get the ball out quickly, methodical drives downfield, and that's the way you want to play against a team that has a great pass rush with the Houston Texans. So this isn't going to be like
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
a new thing for them where they got to play left-handed or whatever. That's how they want to play. And to your point, that's how they were playing down the stretch of the season where it was just long methodical drives. The ball's not hitting the ground. Mahomes short completions go down the field. So I like them offensively there. And then defensively. C.J.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Stroud is 29th against the Blitz this year when you look at all the efficiency numbers. I like to look at Chiefs Blitz at the fifth highest rate in the NFL. So I'm with you. I didn't watch that Texans game last week. I wasn't like, wow, I feel differently about their offense. This was the worst offense of any team that made the playoffs by DVOA.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
And so I think they're going to have issues offensively. I think there's a chance they could ugly up the game a little bit with their defense and their pass rush. But I like the Chiefs, but I think you're right. If it is a slow game, maybe bump the Chiefs down and do a teaser.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah, absolutely. It could be an FU playoff run. I mean, they are well positioned. They are monster favorites at home. And then they're going to get to face whichever team lost that Ravens-Bills battle. Which would be a battle. Yeah. And then they're potentially in the Super Bowl.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
So absolutely, from the narrative stand, not getting mentioned with, you know, All-Pro, MVP, all those conversations that happen this time of year. And all they are, are the one seed in the AFC going for a three-peat.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
No, that's the biggest thing. Their pressure against those tackles is one. Two is the Chiefs are 30th in explosive plays. The only teams that create explosive plays at a lower rate than them have been the Raiders and the Browns. So they are going to have to work at it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
And if you kind of shrink the game and all of a sudden you have a weird fumble or a weird penalty and you ugly it up that way, then maybe the Texans have an opportunity here. The other thing is, if you still believe in CJ Stroud, and feel like the season has it. I still like him. I don't like him here in this spot.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Like if you ask me if we're doing a pod in August and how do I think he's going to perform? I think he's going to bounce back next year. I don't think he has it this year. But if you think he does have it this year and he comes in and has him and Nico Collins combined for, like you said, 160 yards, maybe that keeps him in it. I don't see it with their offensive scheme, their offensive line.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I think he's going to have a tough day.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
The true rookies, Brock Purdy, Mark Sanchez, Joe Flacco, Ben Roethlisberger, Sean King.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah, I'm with you. I'm with House. House nailed it. Like an average NFL game, you get 11 possessions in a game. And so everything about this commander's game plan has to be lean into the variance. Like House was saying, if it's only seven possessions and now Jared Goff has a pass deflected at the line of scrimmage that somebody comes down with. It gives fumbles. Yeah, it has a bigger impact.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Exactly. And that's how the commanders want to play. Methodical, long drives, run the football, complete passes at a very high rate. So they've got that in them. And then the same thing about the fourth down stuff. If they're in the red zone, if they're on the past midfield, they need to be aggressive. A fake punt here and there.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
When you're an underdog of this magnitude and you're facing an offense in such a mismatch with the Lions offense against your defense, I think that's how you have to play. So I would not go against Jaden Daniels in a big spot.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I mean, I don't know that there's another quarterback in the NFC that you say, hey, if you take the Lions here, minus eight and a half, and it's whatever, a three-point game, a five-point game in the fourth quarter, and the commanders have fourth and six. Like, I want to be on the Jaden Daniels side on that because he's come through over and over and over again.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
And there's a couple schematic things here. I mean, we know how the Lions play. Man coverage, and they want to blitz. Jaden Daniels, very good against man coverage because he can use his legs and he has killed the blitz this year. Like all those rookie quarterbacks you named as you were reeling them off. I'm like, that guy had a great team. That guy had a great team.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
That guy like Jaden Daniels doesn't have a great team. He's putting the team on his back. And yeah, so I took the commanders with the points just when I pick every game. So I don't like being on the other side of that guy.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah. I mean, you look at the stats and stuff and they're what, top five in DVOA and they got some guys back and they hung in there and they had a great game plan against the Vikings. But I'm sort of with you. I want to see a little bit more. When we saw the Rams do that to the Vikings, I had the same thought like, all right, let me rethink what I think about that Lions defense. I don't know.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I think the Lions, I picked them to win the Super Bowl before the postseason began. I still think they're going to win this game. But if you told me, hey, which of these big dogs is going to actually win this weekend, Commanders, Rams, or Texans, I'm riding with Jaden Daniels out of those three. I think I agree with that, Hess.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
When I was first following the Eagles, it was those teams you're mentioning, and they were better than the Eagles. The Giants have been one of the worst teams in the NFL in the last decade. The Commanders have been hopeless. Now it's flipping a little bit. I will say, there's a lot of love there for Josh Harris.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
If Josh Harris wants to buy the Wizards and give up the Sixers and just be a full-time D.C. guy, I think that would be okay. That's a big thing in Philly. Franchise trade.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I think not quite good enough. That was still the defense, I feel like, was the identity of that team. House, you agree?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
No, this is because of the legacies and they're both still young in their career. So I still think like there's going to be a lot of narratives that come out of whichever quarterback loses. And I'm probably going to be the nerd being like, relax like that. You know, it wasn't all on that guy. Yeah.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
They're going to get there eventually, but it's been the same conversation around both these guys really to a large degree. They're both among the top two or three MVP candidates. Pretty much every year you have them on your team. They get offensive coordinators paid. They get other players paid. It's like they are the star of the show.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
There's nobody like either guy. Exactly. So you have that as well. And so it's just a matter of time before one of them breaks through. I'm not saying either of them is ever going to be there with Mahomes, but I think each of them is going to have their year. And who's it going to be this year? And who has the better supporting cast? And who has the better chance?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
It all comes down to this matchup and how they play in this game.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah. I said, you know, on the show, Indian Timothy Chalamet, you know, he goes on game day and just goes in, crushes it, disappears. I feel like that was my role on, on the ringer wise guys.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
All right, let me make the case for the fine people of Western New York. Josh Allen. Yeah, let's go. I mean, narrative. Josh Allen, this was supposed to be a reset year. They get rid of Stefan Diggs. People like me are picking the Jets to win the AFC East. All the guy does is put this new cast of characters on his back every week. They win that division going away. And now he gets to the playoffs.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
And he's an underdog at home. He's healthy. He's one of the best quarterbacks we've seen in the last decade. And his team is an underdog. And everyone's pointing to that week four matchup. And the Bills did not have either starting linebacker in that game. They did not have Taron Johnson, their nickel corner, who might be one of their best players. on defense. All those guys are back here.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
And by the way, people are forgetting that the Ravens probably are not going to have their leading wide receiver in this game. Zay Flowers did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday. So you're looking at two evenly matched teams, one that is healthier, the other that is without its starting wide receiver. Yeah, that's not nothing. You don't have to be perfect on defense.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Derek Henry's going to get yards. Lamar Jackson is going to get yards. Can the Bills match them possession for possession? And can you get that one key turnover, that one key play on special teams? And home field advantage. Yeah, I see the path for Ravens blowout. You guys are right. House made the great point that the Bills are small up front.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
And now you have the one team that you do not want to be small up front against. And the Ravens could run for over 200 yards. But I'm not counting up. I was basically going to take whichever team was the dog here and just say, I'm going with that. So I was just flipping a coin back and forth, changing my mind all week. But Josh Allen is a home dog, like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
When these guys are home dogs, I'm just like, take them. If you lose, I'll live with it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
This is where I feel like we've swung too far in the modern be fair to everyone type of sports analysis. When I was a kid, I remember watching a local Philly sports show and they took a pumpkin and Michael Jordan hadn't been Michael Jordan yet. And they took a bat and smashed this pumpkin and was like, Michael Jordan hasn't done anything. He's selfish. And I'm like, all right, that was crazy.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
But also now we're like, you can't like this past week. Oh, you can't criticize Justin Herbert or Sam Darnold or Jordan Love. It's their offensive line. It's like, all right, that you can tell me a guy had a great regular season. You can show me the film from week 12 when the stakes are at their highest. How do they perform? And I agree that it hasn't been all on Lamar Jackson.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Last year, Zay Flowers fumbles. We should point that stuff out. But also, when a quarterback doesn't play well in a big spot and they're in a certain year and it's not their first or second year in the NFL, I think it is fair to criticize them. So yeah, if these guys go up and down the field and they both play awesome and one of them loses, then no, I'm not going to be like, that guy can't win.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
But if one of them comes out and lays an egg and turns the ball over more than they do in the regular season... and their team loses, then we're allowed to. It's okay. We don't have to be overly fair to some of these guys. I agree. I thought Justin Herbert was reprehensible last week.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
For an hour and a half.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I'm retiring on top. Thank you.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
It seems like I took the bills in my official picks, but it was a coin flip. So yeah, don't let my opinion there change what you guys, I'm sticking with my Malcolm Gladwell blink test on that one.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I feel like if you lose that, you get to watch a Jaden Daniels classic playoff game. I think other than that, you're safe. So it'll be worth it.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I think so, yeah. And the Texans like to play man covers. They've got good corners. So there could be some plays in there where he has to hold on to the football, make a play, and he takes off.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
That's a veteran better right there. I feel like I need to take notes. I'm in awe. Like that is a man who has been burned by a kneel down at some point in the last 10, 20, 30 years.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
How sold me on the kneel.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Plus 931. Mentioning it. Hopkins to score plus 310.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Wow.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I think he's supposed to play, but we don't know.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Listen, it's fun. My only concern would be if it's snowy, are they going with a run-heavy game plan? And then the Eagles are having one of those drives where it's like the Eagles have possessed the ball for 11 minutes in the set, so he doesn't have the opportunities to throw the pick. Great point. But, listen, it's a little... You don't have to put... It's a sprinkle. It's a tiny dabble.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I'm not going to say no to any bet like that.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Anything jump out? Well, when you were talking about the running backs, I like Saquon and Derrick Henry longest rush. Derrick Henry's is like 20.5. Saquon Barkley's is 18.5 yards. I think both of those guys are going to get the ball a lot and break one of them throughout the course of the game.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I actually feel like they're going to win pretty handily in this game. Oh, my God. Yeah, and I'm not usually like that. I've been on the fence. I wasn't sure about that Packers game. I feel pretty confident that the Eagles are going to win this game, so I need to hear the violations they have going in.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
So that's just if you're worried about getting cheated, like you said, on a touchdown where Saquon Barkley runs it to the one and then they give it to Jalen Hurts. That's one I would look at. I like the Barkley one specifically over 18 and a half yards as his longest rush. So pairing that with something with Henry could make sense. What are the odds on that longest rush? Do you remember?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I can't remember.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Hmm.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
It's really exciting.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
That's happening. Come on.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
What do you have, Shiel? Yeah, I have one of my best bets of the weekend is McLaurin over 68.5 receiving yards. I mean, they're going to have to move the ball. He is by far their go-to target. The Lions don't have a number one corner. The Lions don't play the type of defense where they're going to put a safety over top of him. They're going to say, we can be aggressive and play man coverage.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I had McLaurin last week, and it was fruitful. He had it very early on. And you're right. Two of these games are in bad weather, you know, potentially Buffalo and Philadelphia. So now if you, and maybe even Kansas city. So you get the weather aspect of it being easier to throw the ball. So yeah, I'm in on the McLaurin over.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
So you have the Lions in the other tees at what? Minus two and a half, right?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah, it might conflict you, but if you didn't have the other bet, I would say, again, Jaden Daniels rule. If it's over a field goal, why not?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
You only have a few weeks left. I mean, if you're feeling it, go with it, you know?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yes.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I don't think they have a great chance. The Eagles have not lost a game that Jalen Hurts has started and finished since September 29th, week four. We've gone through this whole season where you're watching them. You're going, this passing game kind of sucks sometimes. Every drop back is resulting in a sack or a throwaway. And then their talent usually just overwhelms the opponent.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
There's one play by A.J. Brown or Saquon Barkley or last week it's Dallas Goddard or Devontae Smith. It's like they don't have to be efficient down to down. And then what House said, they've got probably the best offensive line in football. So I add all those things up.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
And with as conservatively as Jalen Hurts is playing right now, for better or worse, they're not a team who's going to give the game away. So Every team always has a chance. We know that. But when you read that one out loud, that really rang true to me. How's Sam Donald?
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah. I mean, I wrote on the ringer in like week 14. I had this piece that said the Vikings can't make the Daniel Jones mistake with Sam Darnold. And in the next three weeks, he was awesome. And I'm like, shoot, I might've screwed that one up. And I think if you zoom out, I think part of it's what how said, I think part of it is we probably overrated that Vikings passing game.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I mean, in the regular season, they were 14th in passing DVO way. They were like, statistically they, in the mediocre range. And then they have these two games where you have some protection issues. And a lot of what they did was based on the explosive passing game. And if he's holding onto the football and that's taken away, their run game was never really that efficient.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
They weren't that methodical. So yeah, I got roped back in. I thought they were going to win that game. I thought that Lions game was kind of a blip on the radar and they were trending in the right direction. But it was kind of two games in a row where, you know, the ghost of Sam Darnold came back a little bit.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
I'm saying, I didn't know if that resonated with you. Who cares about the Wizards? I thought maybe it was, I didn't know if Daniel Jones was the guy starting for the Sixers tomorrow night because none of their guys play. I was a little confused there. I'm glad you took the shot at the Wizards, not the Sixers. Thank you.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
Yeah, I was in the stands those early 2000s when they had the McNabb teams and they were favorites against the Bucs and the Panthers. And the fan base was so confident going into those games. And then you saw what happened. So really, it comes down to early in the game. If you have a few three and outs, no, it doesn't change things. This is in our DNA. This is what it's going to be like.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
But I think there's also a possibility that Saquon Barkley has a 35 yard run in the first quarter and all of a sudden the place is going bonkers and they don't actually have to worry about that. But yes, to answer your question, it could go either way if they get off to a slow start.
The Bill Simmons Podcast
Part 2: Josh Vs. Lamar, Mahomes’s F-You Game, and the Round 2 NFL Mega-Preview With Sheil Kapadia and Joe House
chill you agree with the food food scene yeah i want in on all of this house next time you come marion is about 15 minutes that way i'm pointing here uh and then you know obviously uh house eating i mean whether i'm observing or participating i'm hearing about this yeah yeah yeah over a decade i've been hearing about the legend it starts out with participating and then it turns into observing
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
A lot to get to on today's pod, Chukwadia NFL free agency is cranking right now. We're going to get to a ton of names, so don't feel left out. We'll get to some of the quarterback stuff, what the Seahawks doing, what's going on with fields, and just some of our favorite and not so favorite signings. NBA Open.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
It felt a bit like the Matt Castle draft pick. where the Pats took him and he just never plays. But he was going to be a backup to somebody else who was already really good. If you look at Taylor, he started 12, or excuse me, if you look at Jalen Moore, he started, I was thinking of Juwan, started 12 games. That's kind of shocking, but it might, again, factor into the pricing of this stuff.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But with the way, and I'm glad Bill and I were talking about this a little bit at the very end of Sunday's pod, I was glad that he brought up Just what we're looking at with the cap spike based on revenue and the way it's collectively bargained and that the salary cap has gone up so much and just what almost doubled in just over 10 years.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
So when you're looking at some of these prices, there can be this sticker shock of like that guy's 20 million a year. It's like, yeah, but that's a $10 million a year guy. Not I mean, I know a decade can feel like a long time, but as far as cap and the way that it's exploded, that's not a very long time to be at some of these cap numbers.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And when you start looking at where the projections are going to be two or three years from now, it's clear general managers are like, even if I'm pricey, at least I'm fulfilling a need here. And I'm going to have all this extra space that I get to play with because that just was not a guarantee the way that it used to be with GMs. You couldn't be you couldn't make this many mistakes.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And I think you can now.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Do you like what Denver did with Greenlaw and Hufunga?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I liked it just because their defense was so good last year that you go, why not? It's just they weren't going to be complacent about it whatsoever. And Green lost 27. He missed that last year. I guess I just look at him. I mean, he'll be 28 at the start of the season if you want to get real technical about it. I just think he was so good. And it's kind of hard to stand out next to Fred Warner.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And he did. And he brings an attitude. So I like it, and you look at the numbers through years 35, 20, it's 27 guaranteed, and he's coming off the Achilles part of it, but at least it was like this one very clear injury, and then he's able to even come back. So if he didn't play the entire year, I don't even know what that number would be yet.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
The Colts obviously throwing some money into that secondary. I guess if you look at the Byron Murphy contract through years 66 million, 35 guaranteed with Minnesota and bringing him back is – the Tredarius Ward number supposed to be the same? Because that's kind of what it was, even though I think I'd prefer Murphy.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Would you rather have Daniel Jones as your backup or Zach Wilson?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I like the Josh Palmer signing. I know it's a lot. It's three years, 36. He's missed some games over the last couple seasons. I always felt like Palmer had a little more juice to him that was lost in the shuffling of all the different receiver options that were either healthy and a lot of times not healthy with the Chargers. I just like him.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And I think with Allen, not that it's not like Justin Herbert isn't one of the better quarterbacks in the league, although we can save that debate when he has a bad loss in a nationally televised game and everybody says he sucks again. I just feel like Palmer is a dude that has a little bit more to him that fulfills more of a need for Buffalo being thin at that position.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Okay. Give us all my Pats fans are excited. Milton Williams, four years, $104 million, $63 million guaranteed. That puts him at the third highest average annual salary at defensive tackle behind Chris Jones and Christian Wilkins. I mean, Jones is debatable that he's even at defensive tackle because he isn't. I mean, they line up all over the place.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Now, one argument could be he played in Philly with all of these other studs and New England now is going to have him be the focal point of what their defensive line is supposed to be. So give us the full Milton scouting report and expectation because this is being celebrated quite a bit in New England.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I think everybody felt great about a player we all really liked. I mean, I don't know if you disliked him coming out of the draft. I liked him. Certainly NFL teams liked him. It seems like a lot of people in the quarterback community really like him, the dude. And, you know, we've heard all these different stories and I don't need to recount all of them.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Okay. You mentioned Caleb Williams is the big winner. Why should he feel so good about this off season?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But, you know, Leinart and I have talked about it all the time where Leinart It felt like, I don't know, year six or something is when it's like the light went off. It's like, okay, now I kind of understand. And it's like, okay, but where would a team – how could a GM ever sell that to his ownership? How could a coach – like that's just – you've got to figure it out sooner.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I got to talk about Justin Fields. I do not know who I can compare to him as far as the career arc, because what you would have to do is you'd have to be a top pick, right? You would have to be somebody that everybody's familiar with because of your college accolades. You'd have to be physically impressive, right? Because of his athleticism, I think the arm, right?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And then you go to a franchise like Chicago where they have no equity as far as their history at the position. So if Fields doesn't work out in Chicago, like some other places in the NFL, if you love Fields coming out or any quarterback with the same kind of thing we're talking about here, you could just blame that team. So then he goes to Pittsburgh. They have a good record.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Because of the defense, he gets benched. Russell Wilson comes in. It's not great. They also fall apart because the defense falls apart. And then somehow Fields becomes even better because of the way the season ended when he wasn't even playing. There's a lot of record stuff in there with quarterbacks that we should always be fighting against.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And even though there are moments, I think, with Pittsburgh where I go, ooh, maybe there's something there those first couple weeks. Like, hey, that was a pretty good throw. There's a lot of numbers that if you really want to dig into his EPA and value on dropback and stuff, it's... It's abysmal.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Some of those numbers paint a picture that even if I didn't love Fields, I'd be like, wow, I didn't even realize it was that bad. And he gets a deal with the Jets. Now, granted, the money here is two years, $40 million, $30 million guaranteed.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
the $20 million average annual salary puts him at 21st at the position, which is like $20 million now a year for a quarterback is just weird anyway if he's not on the rookie deal. And this is being celebrated now.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
in a way that I don't know, I can't come up with a comp, like I was thinking about Tannehill, but at least Tannehill, because it was a bit of the same things, high draft pick, he was more of an unknown coming out, goes to Miami, Miami doesn't have the benefit of the doubt when it comes to the quarterbacks at that time, then he goes to the Titans, and he had a couple statistical years, where I'm like, Tannehill's this good?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And yet I never really felt it. And then when it was over, it was kind of over quick and it seemed like they wanted to move on from him. Yet there were some real arguments about Tannehill be like, no, you guys are disrespecting Tannehill. I'm like, I don't feel that I am. But yes, cool page on pro football reference feels doesn't even have that. And yet that feels like it's the expectation.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And sure, maybe there's a couple quarterbacks that are out of football that had they been given another chance would have finally figured it out. I think people could hope that.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
So it's his third team. I don't think he's been that good. And some people are convinced he's fucking awesome. I don't know if I can think of anyone in modern NFL history that matches that.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Wait, do the hipsters not like Palmer?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
for Darnold but it there's so many factors based on everything you just said maybe the last impression is is too powerful but you're like this is what it looks like when it's disrupted and that's with that team and with that staff and now you look at Seattle like where are they are they are they looking at this is like if we're right we get him cheaper Yet the three years, can we be right?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
The Darnold thing works where it's the top pick. It's the big time program. It's a franchise. There's no...
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
there's no equity in right um the hipsters love sam darnold too they did like i i even felt like just like i put on a shirt for that weekend where i'd fit in going i can't wait to see like if he gets a chance to play for the niners darnold maybe it's the reverse there because baker was there in 22 and then darnold finishes out the season so is that the same but i guess
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I don't know that there was the hype in anticipation of Darnold going into this past Minnesota year that I feel like I've already seen. I don't even think it's close for the hype. Some people think they fixed it. Maybe it works, but just the same way it was for Darnold to have an MVP discussion type season. Granted, he wasn't going to win the MVP, but hey, look what this guy's doing.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
They drafted another quarterback. They drafted J.J. McCarthy so high, not knowing that he was going to be hurt. So we weren't really even sure. So, yeah, I mean, many people were holding out hope for Darnold, but I don't know that going into this year with Minnesota, it was like, man, this is going to be awesome the way it already is with Fields. So I don't know.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I guess it's not that I'm sitting here saying, I think, well, yeah, I guess I am. Fuck it. He hasn't been good. He hasn't been good for a really long time. So to have this level of anticipation for him seems to be completely misguided. I'm trying to think now I'm on this. You have something to say, but I have a follow-up to this.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But yet Seattle is a team that, you know, look, Geno did a really good job there the last couple of years. I'm not saying he's awesome, but he's done a good job and it feels like they're in transition and that Darnold wouldn't be the guy that would match the timeline the rest of the roster is on.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You're right though. I mean, after Justin Fields, 20 million number, if you look at, and there's still some dust that has to get worked out here, whatever happens with Gino, but it's Gardner Minshew and then rookie contracts.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Minshew at 12 million when the Raiders were like, Hey, we're going to be really creative and have two guys that are inexpensive before they decided no wonder they wanted Gino so bad. But yeah, I'm,
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I'm with you on this because I'm trying to think of the top hipster quarterback because I feel like the hipsters are trying to tell me Anthony Richardson was going to be really good because he ran it into the end zone because his OC didn't trust him to throw it on goal to go situations. It's like, well, no shit. He ran it all the time and it worked, but it also was alarming.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Like, oh, yes, he's going to run it again. Yeah, he was up there. I'm trying to think of who else is in that. It was also a big fantasy thing, but I feel like the hipsters liked Anthony Richardson coming out into the draft a lot, too. Yes. Were you one of those guys, Sheil? It's okay. I get it wrong sometimes, too.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I didn't even feel like, I didn't feel like I was even being a hipster, liking him coming out.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I think everybody's, if you had confidence in Trevor Lawrence, all of us are rattled.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
At this point. Cause then when he had the bad year, you go, well, he can't be that bad again. And then he was like, yeah.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You sure about that? Cause it was easy to blame urban. Yeah. You're like, all right, yeah, you didn't get the right guy in there. I think that's good. More signings to come, but I think we covered it, man. That was great. Sounds good. Thanks for having me. What do you have to promote?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
All right. Good stuff, man. Talk to you soon.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
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NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
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NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
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The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Watching Denver win in OKC last night, nice for the Nuggets to be able to split this. Really fun games. Just enjoy the hell out of these two teams playing each other. So hopefully we get to see it in the playoffs. So you look at the split, and Denver did it with offense last night.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
A couple different things that I want to get to here, but there's a bigger picture thing, of course, that I've been thinking about. I think about it a lot. But Denver scores 33 points, what, 34, 33, 34, 39 in each of the quarters. They do that against a Thunder defense. We've been telling you all season long on this historic pace. based on where the rest of the league is offensively.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
So it's a really good split for Denver because it looked like, at least in the first matchup, perimeter-wise, just not a lot of answers for SGA. Now, Gordon only played seven minutes in game one. He's incredibly important of what they do. It doesn't play in game two. And to be fair, the Thunder lose Jalen Williams, the good one, after 14 minutes. So worth mentioning all of these things.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But especially for OKC, once Jalen Williams is not there to cover the non-SGA minutes. And then more importantly, Denver can then start trying some other stuff to slow SGA down. They were running some two-man traps in him. There was one play that looked like it was actually like a two-man zone.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
It wasn't, but you get the point, like two men waiting for him to cross midcourt to try to trap him that soon, not to get the eight second violation, but to get the ball out of his hands. I think when you get gimmicky like that, NBA players figure it out. They get wide open looks.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
There was one play where Arnstein got it and, you know, he was wide open because there was two players almost 50 feet away from the basket. But the point is, is like that was the gamble that Denver was willing to make, especially with General Williams is out of the game. And also limiting the free throw attempts is a huge part of this.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
OKC tried to counter by bringing SGA up the ball a little bit, which smarter teams will do. Hey, this is really simple. If they're doing this to our main guy, let's not have him bring the ball up to court. Other teams are just I can't believe that NBA teams at certain levels will just not figure that part of it out. OKC's too smart.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But it didn't really matter because even if we're talking about what Denver's doing defensively to Oklahoma City, they're willing to give up the open threes. And OKC hit the open threes. Door hit eight of them. They were 40% on threes last night. OKC scored 127. So it wasn't really about some defensive strategy, even though I'm pointing out some of this stuff. It's that Denver...
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
It's going to go 18-32 from three, 56% for the game. You're going to win a lot of games there. So looking at the Thunder and kind of the way they've been talked about and just revisiting a few of the moments of just great resume. And I know I'm not supposed to be doing this after they just lost, but I don't care. I think they're awesome. OKC's 53-12.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Last night's only the third time all season that they've lost a game by double figures. Four if you want to include the loss to Milwaukee in the in-season tournament. So we've talked about this lack of fear for OKC. I don't know if it's youth. I don't know if it's the newness.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I know that I personally, when something is new and great in sports, specifically basketball, I have a hard time with it too. Golden State's one of the only teams going back to that 2015 season where pretty early on, I was like, I think they are going to be this good, which is tough. It's tough to buy in with a young group that's never really done it before. But I
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I just have a hard time thinking of any real good basketball arguments other than that. So it seems to be kind of a general statement. And I don't know if it's because of what current and former players fear. Could it be something as simple as great as SGA is? There isn't that second motherfucker, that dynamic score that... May already be Jalen Williams. Okay.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
It could be him in the playoffs, but because he isn't that necessarily right now, is that what players are using? Is there arguing to be like a cool regular season dude, but I'm not into it. Um, I think about this constantly.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I bring it up a couple times a year where here's something that I talk about for a living, something that I've watched for 40 years, something that I've talked about professionally for over 20 years, and yet there seems to be so many times where the guys that actually did it versus me that never did it were completely divided.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
How could you watch Oklahoma City all year long and you played and think they're meh? Well... Let's go back a bit because if we think about the origin of your journey, if you've ever played any basketball, the first thing you've ever done, whether you were terrible at it or you were a Hall of Famer, the first thing you ever did or you ever cared about was scoring.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Mom and dad, maybe they go to the games, maybe they don't. Come home, how many points did you score? You don't tell them anything else. Nobody's even keeping track of anything else. All you care about is scoring. I think this is incredibly important to the guys
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
that play and how dismissive they can be of, maybe it's not even being dismissive of players or teams, but I have a couple of examples, but how enamored and sometimes even blinded they can be by just the visual players that like the way Kobe is talked about. Right. And I understand Kobe's great.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
He's one of the all-time greats, but the way that he's talked about this reverence, maybe it's because of Kobe story and in an awful end to it, But the way that he has talked about, you can see the former players freak out about it. And at no point have I ever thought that I would want Kobe more than Tim Duncan on my basketball team.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
There's another one that comes up all the time, and that's the Kyrie Irving stuff. I've seen countless former players, current players, talk about Kyrie. And they've said, what? You already know what I'm going to say. Most talented player to ever play basketball. I resist that. Kyrie's handle's incredible. Is his handle so good?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Is his handle so much better than Steph that it makes up for the gap between Steph's shooting and Kyrie's shooting? If Steph is considered the greatest shooter of all time, and it's about baskets, shouldn't that matter more? You want to get in a handle? Fine. But it's not like Steph's isn't awesome. Steph's a better passer. Defensively, I think Kyrie's had better years.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I think he's had much worse years, so Steph's a little steadier. And I've also watched Steph enough, as you know. I've never seen defenses make as many mistakes against one player just because they're that freaked out by his movement. So how is Kyrie actually more talented than Step?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
NBA players love some things that I don't necessarily love, how that applies to Denver and OKC and the MVP stuff, some of the long-held historic claims by the guys that have played this game at the highest level.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
If you really want to get into it, I feel bad because he's out with the ACL right now, but if Kyrie's the most talented player ever, is his career a little disappointing? But maybe it's because the players see what Kyrie can do with a ball in his hands and they know how special it is, his creativity.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Those slow motion moments where you watch Kyrie and you see his body control and then taking off from an angle where it's like, how did he even think of that? And I would agree. And I've said this for years. I think Kyrie is the best small finisher that I've ever seen in the history of the game. And maybe that is admired more by the former players.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Maybe that visual part of it is so exciting that that outweighs just the sheer impact that Steph's shooting has had. And really at a much more successful level. I think this reminds me a little bit of the Jokic and Bede MVP debate going back two years ago. It got weird. And I think a lot of it had to do with the visual part of it. Embiid looks more powerful.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You could argue he is more powerful than Jokic, right? He is physically so impressive so that Embiid had the game that looked like it backed up the numbers where Jokic has a game that looks like it maybe doesn't back up his numbers. And if you want to do a little MVP stuff again, I'll do it right now.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I've talked about Jokic, and I talked about it on Sunday with Bill, where I'll never watch any other player, at least right now, and think somebody's better than Jokic. SGA and him are the only guys that are in their own class and the MVP kind of stuff. I think SGA is going to win the vote.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I think that the former players and the current players, the way they kind of talk about it, I guess I'm focusing more on the former players that have a platform. I can already see it. They're going to go with SGA, and maybe it's because they, instead of
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
being respectful of the entire OKC thing, are disrespectful of the team, but respectful of SGA because the scoring numbers that he's put up, knowing that he's going to go get his buckets when the Thunder need it. Where when you look at Jokic, it's like, does he even want to shoot it all the time? Even though he's still pretty high for shot attempts per game when you look at his career.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But if you're looking at Jokic just this season, his PER, yep, trust me, trust me on these numbers here. I know some of you don't like these. But his PER is the second highest ever for a season in NBA history. Behind only Jokic's NBA record PER going back to 22. The win shares are 48. This is a career high for Jokic.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
This is the best he's ever done in the staff, which usually tells you who the special players are. Don't believe me? Jokic's number this year is 10th all-time. The other players that are ahead of him, this guy Kareem a couple times, Wilt, Jordan a few times, LeBron a couple times, including that 12-13 season where he just looked like the best version of him. Steph's got one in there.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
So as I'm watching last night, I'm thinking about the MVP stuff a little bit more as an aside. Jokic is... Like, I guess I'll shoot it. He passed up a three, I think, at 99-93 where I couldn't believe he didn't take it. I was like sort of pissed that he didn't. Then he took the next one and then he made it. And then he's waiting to see what you're doing on defense.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
He's lumbering into you and he's just kind of throwing it up with the softest touch for a guy his size that we've ever seen. And next thing you know, he's got an incredible stat line again and he completely took over the game. You're like, did he even want to take some of those shots? Or other guys, there's no question. Like, you know when Kyrie wants to get a bucket.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You knew when Kobe was like, okay, I'm not. I'm not giving this up to anybody. This is my time, and I think that players that know how hard that is respect that and respect that approach where some guys it's a little bit easier to overlook.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
When I was thinking about the rotations last night, and granted, Gordon isn't playing, so that's maybe extra minutes out there for some Denver players that wouldn't normally play, but not really. Think about how many players played for Denver last night. Ask yourself this question. How many would crack the OKC rotations? Would Pickett crack the rotation? No. Zeke Nagy? No. Peyton Watson?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
By the way, great block on Chet last night out of him. Comes down, hits the three. A couple nice possessions there, some good minutes. He wouldn't play last night for the Thunder. Would you play Christian Brown or Russell Westbrook over Alex Caruso? I know what you're going to say, Nuggets fans. I'm trying to help you, by the way, but I don't know.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Christian Brown's had a really nice year with some good numbers in there. play him over Caruso they had Caruso trying to defend Jokic last night I don't I'm there's a there might even be a Michael Porter Jr. Aaron Wiggins conversation if you get a couple beers in me but the point is it's like yeah That, to me, is part of the conversation. Now, I know what you're going to say, Thunder fans.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You're going to say what? You're going to say, well, look, Ryan, they're 11 games behind. SGA has to be rewarded. They're the one seed. That has to matter in the MVP race. And I think a lot of former players are going to say the exact same thing.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And I can imagine, at least the Thunder fans are going to argue that, because I remember how adamant, how passionate you were that you thought Westbrook shouldn't win the MVP in 2017 because Because he was eight games behind the Houston Rockets and James Harden. I remember when you guys did that. So I'm kind of gearing up for it.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I feel like I'm going to be a bit on this Jokic Island, which doesn't seem like it's been that desolate the last few years. This is not, hey, listen, Jokic is good. You hear the intro that he did on the pod the other day. Good stuff. Riveting. But I just, it's going to be wrong. The SGA vote's going to be wrong. And I think a lot of the former players are going to be like, I'm psyched SGA won.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Do you like the DK deal for Pittsburgh?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And, you know, I will have moments, whether it's the Kyrie conversation or some of the Kobe-Duncan stuff or what's going to happen with MVP, what's happened with MVP in the past, because I do actually care.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And I'll have moments where I'm like, how could I sit here as somebody who's never played and think these things and be in such a massive disagreement with the guys that did this for a living and have these positions, right? It'd be like be watching, like... I used to love the Deadliest Cat shows. Watched it all the time.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Can you imagine being at some dive bar with a guy from the show and being like, here's something I don't understand with how you guys, your pot dispersal. I think you're fucking this up. And I've watched a lot of episodes. Like you'd feel pretty, you wouldn't do that. You'd feel pretty stupid. So when I have these internal disagreements where I'm like, could I be getting this wrong?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And then Tim Hardaway Sr. says that he thinks Bull Bull has the same abilities as Wimbledon and I'm totally fine again. A little home and home for us here. Chandler Parsons joins us after I was able to jump on with he, Michelle Beadle, Lou Williams, on Run It Back weekdays at 10 a.m. Eastern on FanDuel TV or stream live on YouTube at Run It Back FDTV. What's up, man? Good morning.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, I appreciate it. All right. So look, the Thunder split this Denver thing, and I know we were talking a little bit last week, but it just, it continues to feel like, and again, I don't really care about the loss necessarily last night, but it feels like, I don't know if it's the newness, it's the lack of like a real scary dude is the second score.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But I guess I'm just surprised how many former players don't look at the Thunder as like a scary out in the playoffs.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Do you think there's actually a bad matchup in the West for them in the playoffs?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Can you help me understand Michael Porter Jr.? Because... I think we understand what the good version of it is, right? He's this huge player. He's so important. What they do is shooting some of the shots that he can get into to like where it's off the dribble. It's not just the three point stuff like there's some shot making that he'll have over the course of the game.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You're like, this is really, really special. There's other times where I feel like whether it's he's not aggressive enough because he he does have moments where. where he's not one of those players where I'll look at and say, OK, he's just never aggressive because that's not true with him.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But I don't know if it's playing off of Jokic, but there's also been different sub patterns, especially with some of the injuries beginning of the year where I felt like, OK, they really need him to kind of lead the offense. And I don't know if he's that guy.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, and I would say, not that I'm going to spend 10 minutes on the projection of Michael Porter Jr. 's career, even though he's still young, you get this many years in the league playing this way, I think it'd be hard to say, okay, now show us the full... The full like version of what you could have been.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And the aggressive thing, I'm totally with you because when I get frustrated with him, I'm going like, oh, he's playing soft. And then there will be this moment like, OK, well, there is there is something in him that shows it'd be super easy to just write him off and go, OK, well, I don't see enough of these peak aggressive moments. So this is just who he is.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I think it's just kind of this up and down and knowing, you know, not that the contract is the most important thing. It's irrelevant to what we're talking about for them with the playoff run here. But I think at like 40 million the next couple of years, you go, you know, just be something.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
It'd be great if I could bank on you a little bit more, especially if Jamal has those at least the beginning of the year when you needed more out of somebody else offensively when Jamal didn't have it.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I'm with you on Cleveland. Like I love them. And whether it's kind of figuring out what they want to pick from, you know, from the menu of players where, you know, I think there's an old school way of looking at it. It's like, here are five and then these are our next three.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And then maybe there's a ninth if there's foul trouble, or we want to give somebody a taste of some outside shots to make the defense think differently about what we're doing. But with Cleveland, I, I, I think all of it, all of it kind of works. And that's, that's what I love about how adaptable they should be in the playoffs. Let me ask you about the JB thing.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Cause I think that's really interesting. They had that 17 and one stretch last year. And you know, maybe it's, Maybe it's back to the ESPN stuff and the national show where you feel like you'll watch all this league pass stuff and it'll be local broadcasters, local markets just mad at the national media for not talking about them enough. And that was happening with Cleveland.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You're kind of like, all right, 17 and one. But what do you want me to do? Say you're better than Boston? Like, I don't believe that. Right. So, you know, I'm sorry, guys. But I still don't.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, see, these last few weeks, it's not just the comeback. These last few weeks, I'm kind of looking at it as a coin toss, where in the past I would have just been like, look, I'm not going to pick Cleveland against Boston just because of history and because of some of the perimeter matchup stuff. Now I really think you could pick either one. You wouldn't be wrong.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But JB going from Cleveland to Detroit, fixing Detroit, while it feels like Kenny – Granted, with all the pieces of being healthier, what is it about Bickerstaff that you like so much that maybe the seeds of it are still in Cleveland and it's worked here in Detroit? Because I think some people would look at that and maybe go like, if he's so good in Detroit, how come Cleveland is this much better?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I want you to tell me a J.B. story, basically.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, the JB one is pretty crazy how the story goes. Because I was at one of the Cleveland-Boston games in the playoffs last year. And granted, again, Cleveland didn't have all their guys. And it felt like it was kind of a bad spot for JB. It felt like a lot of the players were trying to help him. And it's because those guys were in street clothes. So it was really tough sitting so close to it.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And I was like, man, these guys feel like they're kind of checked out on this dude. And I don't know if that's just... I think players in general, after a while, you just kind of move on past a coach. And having a voice like J.B. Post, Monte Williams, clearly works for Detroit here. Back to the West, though.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Are you with me that you hope they sign Jameson Williams at some point and then add him to that Steelers wide receiver room?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Last night, I don't want to spend a ton of time on Phoenix because we probably have already spent too much time on a team that's just not relevant at this point. But that's a bad loss in Memphis. for Phoenix last night. No Jaron Jackson being the primary reason. If you look at some of the big rotational stuff that Memphis ended up having to do last night, and they hang on.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And Ja had a very Ja fourth quarter, a couple possessions where I'm like, what is he doing? And then he ends up One huge bucket and then kind of the game winning bucket. So depending on the standings, you know, any day you look up, Memphis could be the two seed.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
They're not today, but I guess I'm I don't want to say I'm off of Memphis, but it has to be a cleaner version of jaw for me to take them seriously in the West. And at this point, I just don't see enough consistency with it.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, and they've been in so many close games the last 20-plus, and they've won three in a row here, so at least it's something to point to there. But again, on the Phoenix side of it, when you're looking at the minute dispersal for what's going on with Memphis and what you think they'd be able to attack. But no Beal last night. You know what? One Phoenix thing, then.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Where would you want to see Durant next year if he's not with Phoenix?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You thought Antonio Brown was – Actually, I don't know. I don't know if anything will compete with the end of AB's run. Speaking of trades, let's just touch on the Tunsil one here because Houston moves their left tackle, considered probably their best offensive lineman for a unit that wasn't very good and just – Everybody got to see it firsthand in the playoff game where it's like a disaster.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And we've got Chandler Parsons on just taking a look at where Cleveland is in the East, the other West teams, and then just gearing up for the playoffs, going back to a couple of his Houston runs over 10 years ago and life advice. One of our favorite NFL guests to talk to from the ringer. It is Shil Kapadia.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
It's crazy too. Cause you know, during that Clippers comeback, the Colin Gillespie game as historians will remember it. Uh, Yeah, you're right. There's a lot of stuff you can see with Durant where I would go, oh, to your point, here's another example, potentially, of this being over.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But to be totally fair to Durant, which I want to be, is there were some moments where he wasn't even in the play and he was going so hard celebrating, so into it. Where I've seen really good players, when somebody else is doing something, they don't have... that level of energy because they're not involved with the great play. And Durant was like really locked in. It was a really nice win.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
It was a fun night. And then look, they go to overtime and he hits the overtime, the three to send it to overtime against Denver. And then Denver just kind of steamrolls them in overtime there. So I was almost surprised, maybe like,
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
pleasantly like oh look there's there's something about at least trying to salvage what's happening this season but you're right there's a lot of other clips from other stuff i know the one that made the rounds where bud grabs his arm but then they showed another version of it where it went on later where he and durant looked like they were kind of working it out but i mean collectively again last night's another example you'd expect no jaron jackson you expect the center situation with memphis phoenix is going to get that game and then they don't um
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Let's talk a little playoffs because I was going back through some of your matchups when you were with the Rockets. Let's start with this. You know, the first year you're with the Rockets, you know, it's a good team, makes the playoffs, losing the first round. The second year, I think you were like mid-50s wins. You're going up against Portland.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
How different was it for you, at least the way you saw yourself? Now, granted, look, you still lost in the first round, but that's not really an important part. I want to get into kind of how you saw yourself, how you saw the team building off of getting a taste of it the year prior.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But it's Tunsell on a fourth for a third and seventh. And obviously inheriting the next two years of that contract for Washington, 21 million at each of the next two years. So when a team does something like this, okay, and there's certain free agents and I understand it's cap management, but like maybe even Grady Jarrett's an example of this where you go, why would,
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Do you think, um, Like, when you go into that series again, and it was a really fun first-round series. Like, obviously, you were in it, so you remember. But, like, that was one of those series where I just remember having so much fun watching it play out and, like, Dame taking it to this level that was just kind of a little bit of a tease of, like, okay, this is what this dude's going to be.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Even though the funny thing is LaMarcus actually averaged 30. He was unbelievable. Marcus scored more in that series than Dame did. So I want to get into kind of the prep part of it. What were you talking about? Like this is for game one and whatever the adjustments are, but our priority defensively is to try to do this against that kind of scoring duo.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
So is there I always kind of feel about like like last year, I think a good example was the Clippers Dallas series. And I'll bring up the speed, so I don't feel like I'm putting you in a spot here. But there's all these players where I'm like, man, Clippers are this motivated to bring Harden in now at this stage of his career.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Or, you know, even Dallas, like all the risk that was involved in the Kyrie acquisition, which has totally worked out for Dallas. And Kyrie's been awesome for them, obviously out.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
now with the injury but i was talking about it where i i said this is why the scoring ability of these players these special players this is why no matter what the bumps are in their career other general managers are going to go you know what like even if i know the issues like that guy can get me some playoff buckets can you help us understand like the difference between
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
the playoff bucket getters versus the guy who's getting like 20 points a game in the regular season. Cause I, I think they're asked to solve so many bad possessions that that's kind of where you make your name in this game.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Should you be worried about paying this much money for Grady Jarrett at this age, knowing Atlanta was like, we're good?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Not to say the teams don't make mistakes, but if Houston has to figure out a way to fix this whole line, what is it about Tunsell that would make them basically move out for, I mean, sure, they're off the money, but asset-wise coming back, all they're really doing is moving from a fourth to a third-round pick. They're not even getting just a third. They moved a fourth out.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I've talked about it before. I talked about it in the open today, so I'll share this with you. Somebody who spends their life watching this game and never played at any level anyone would ever care about, and when I hear the former players that played, and I completely disagree, not saying you specifically, but the example that I use is Tim Hardaway Sr.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
When he's coming out and talking about Bull Bull and comparing him with Wimbanyama, you're just like... He doubled down on our show yesterday. I know. And I go, Tim was a lot better hoops than I was, but do you, do you think the players and the scores in particular, like there's a love and respect that is almost too outsized.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And I'm not even talking about bowl ball anymore here, but that there are players that the players may be like too much because they're so enamored with their scoring ability.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, but I mean, it'd be one thing, I guess, if Tim were saying Manute Bull on the generational part of it, but he's just, he's all in on Bull.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, I mean, just his movement defensively, it's two completely different. But again, we're not here to relitigate that one. But yeah, he doubled down on that one. You can check out Chandler every day, 10 a.m. Eastern on FanDuel TV on Run It Back with Beatle and our guy Lou Williams. Thanks, man. Appreciate it, buddy. This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
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The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Life advice, our email address, lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. Before we get to the dudes here, just want to remind everybody that Ringer has a new 100 best sports moments of this century. Okay, so not 100 years, 2000 on. and I did a little video on that, and my submission, because I think Bill's probably touched on the 2004 Red Sox comeback against the Yankees. A couple times.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
In attendance for those. Yeah, Bill had done it, so I was like, well, if he's not going to do it, then I should do it, because I still think, yeah, I'm a little biased, but considering it never happened before in the history of those two cities, what was number one, Cerruti? That, to me, is still number one.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
How was that number one?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Finals. Alright, you know what? The Tyreek catch, considering the Pats were undefeated and the moment, if you're going like the singular moment, that makes more sense, but... LeBron blocking Iguodala to win the NBA Finals and ignoring the animosity of a century between New York City and Boston with those two baseball teams, I don't. I just don't.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
It's the most Shakespearean thing you could ever possibly imagine.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
No, it's a well-rounded.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
It's cool, right? The thing is really cool. You should check it out. It's awesome. Yeah, the live videos are up. I just remember I was at game three also, and I just It was starting to wane a bit. It started to happen in 2003 when I was doing the show every day in Boston. And again, the oddity of caring that much about the outcome of those games.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And then once everything started going the Red Sox way, it was slowly starting to matter to me less and less. So I got like screwed twice over on that relationship. But game three stung. Game three, Fenway at 0-4. I was like, are you serious? They're going to get swept? I just got embarrassed.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And then over to, let's see what Rooney's doing at the baseball tavern, which is always a great decision back in the day. All right. A couple little feedback ones. Alone Australia sucks.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
alone alaska was good i love alone i've seen every season it could not fish finish alone australia they seem to have picked people who like to go camping occasionally and not actual survival experts like on the regular show and the location sucks it's just a mud pit and the fish they catch look gross worst season ever not a great review but it was so efficient we had to read it australia is one of those places i don't have any interest in australia
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
It's just out the whole thing. You're like snakes.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You don't go, you don't get dropped off. I know, I know. You don't have to do a walkabout, Kyle. Yeah, yeah, you're right. I'm going to do a live show. Then we're going to go looking for snakes. Melbourne? Good, really, really good job. That was good, Cerruti. All right, let's get into it. There's one that's a little on the grosser side, but, I mean, you know, it's just science. It's really long.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I don't know. Maybe I'll read it again before I want to decide. It feels like, you know, with the new Tuesday-Thursday thing, I feel like I don't see you guys for the longest time. It is a little weird. Which is sort of true, because instead of Friday to Monday, it's Thursday to Tuesday. It's like, oh, yeah.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah. Camera's been off for you for a while on that show. What's the inbox looking like? All right, let's get to it. Father dating a woman my age. Six foot two, 180, D3 in lower level foreign pro league experience. All right. Think Denny Avdia or Salon pickup comp. Depends on the run. Matched up and beat Jamal Crawford and Joe Alexander in pickup games. The video with Joe is attached.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Man, Joe Alexander. Dude's just still giving that guy shit after the high lottery pick. He was so good during that tournament run. Was it eight? Yeah. Yeah. My father works in academia and lives works in China. He's been living in China because his previous misconduct at work is the reason he isn't working stateside or married to my mother. Got a way loaded situation.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Well, actually, good instincts, Kyle. He's 62 years old. Recently started dating a resilient woman two months younger than me. I am 28. So let's just say, depending on the birthday, she's 28. I understand this happens sometimes. However, he's a man who lacks soft skills and is not in great shape. They met through Facebook. Apparently, she wrote her undergraduate thesis on his math work.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Oh, well, that's a real connection. I'm not even trying to be funny. No, no, I agree with you.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Unless. Maybe I'm wrong. She's not in school.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
She just loves the size. What's the plural? She's not even in. It's a hobby for her. No, I'll read this sentence again. They met through Facebook, and apparently she wrote her undergraduate thesis on his math work. Okay. So that's maybe where she became aware of him. Okay. Well, obviously she wrote a thesis about it. They recently visited his family in Israel.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I guess we're not worried about him tracking this one down. I think at this point we'd be able to connect a lot of dots. Meeting his family in Israel and she had very little meaningful interaction with his mother and two sisters. She had no interaction. He's had no interaction with her family in Brazil at all. They're now trying to get married in Hong Kong.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Her American visa was denied and it seems likely to me that he is being financially scammed. It's hard for me to tell him.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
this without animosity regarding the way he treated my mom or the way he fell short in parenting is there a way to warn him empathetically about what i see as a careless deep dive it appears to me he is blinded by lust thank you i love the show and recommend it to all my friends okay yeah so is it a scam when this is the age gap or is ever are all parties sort of they all sort of read the disclaimer i feel like uh i don't know man
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
He is not hot. Yeah. Right. No, he sent a picture in.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, no, it's not that either. I mean, he's got a fucking tough look on here. It's like a gym selfie with with her taking the picture, obviously. And then he's no picture of her. No, she's next to him taking the picture.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, there's nothing. You talk testosterone treatment, getting your vitamins levels right. There is nothing that I think older men can just be injected with sheer pure happiness than a younger woman being interested in them. And even if they know the math on it, like this guy would, because it's his lane. he probably doesn't really give a fuck.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
So I think Saruti, you make a really good point off the top is like, this is all transactional. Like most of this is all transactional for every single one of us. And why should we be giving this guy a hard time? However, however, I don't know what your dad's financial situation is. I don't know what your financial situation is, right?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
If my father had some coin and let's say projecting out average lifespan and He was going to be dead in 16 years and some fucking family in Brazil was going to have all of the cash. That wouldn't sit well with me. I wouldn't be psyched about that part of it, but it sounds like this relationship is pretty strange.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
So like the superpower of this woman that she has over your father's, you can say all the right things. You could say all that. You could be right about every point that you're going to make. And he's not going to care because he's probably feeling a happiness that he hasn't felt before. I doubt anyone has ever been this attracted to him. Um,
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Or, you know, look, I'm not trying to diss your mom here, but you get the point. Like this is probably something, unless this is just his move and, you know, he's a worldly guy and this is kind of what he's prioritized. But I can see this a lot with older guys feeling like this part of their life never really went the right way.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You mentioned his misconduct, so maybe this is just sort of the way he's wired here a little bit. Yeah, I mean, this guy's basically out of the country because of some of the stuff that you're alluding to here. So has there ever been a moment that he was going to listen? I guess I'd ask the emailer, like, what are you really looking for? Are you looking to protect your dad?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Are you looking to let him know how you finally feel? Because if he's been able to operate this way for this many years and this is where he's at now, It might feel good for you to say it. I doubt he's going to listen to you based on the behavior you've outlined in his just absolutely raging happiness that he's feeling.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Having a 28 year old be physically attracted to him and he doesn't give a shit about being used at all. It's got the elixir of life, you know.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
All right. Let's read it. It's long, but I'm going to go with it. I just. I'm afraid it's fake, but. There we go. 5'11", 170, 40 years old. I live in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area at DMV. No player comp, but I've been told at various points in my life I look like Manu Ginobili. Last weekend, my girlfriend and I went out for ramen. Just start for the non-athletes out there.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Just tell us who you look like.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, probably. All right. Wait, you think Boyan Bogdanovich? Is ugly.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Italian heritage. Yeah.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Maybe you just look at the tackle market and you see the number that the Titans give to Dan Moore, 82 million. But again, that part of it makes more sense for Washington because they're thinking, well, at least we get Tunsell on the high side of this and contractual control. So on the Houston side of it, it's like, couldn't you have done this?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Just started reading a book on Argentina. Can't wait to share it with Bill on Sundays. A lot of second acts in Argentina. Yeah. Look, people have seen the X-Men. All right. So last weekend, my girlfriend and I went out for ramen. I was feeling myself a little bit more than usual. So I went for a spice level five instead of my usual three. A risk, but a tenable one. Crazy. Kyle knows.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Kyle, this is where Kyle shines. It was delicious. I felt fine. Nothing out of the ordinary stomach wise after consuming it. Uh, we walked home from the restaurant and upon returning, I decided to take our dog out to the local park across the street from our apartment just to get it out of the way for the night. At this point, my stomach felt slightly off, but no big deal.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Many minutes passed as I waited for our dog to do her business in a light drizzle. That's when my stomach began to feel not great. I shrugged it off, but became increasingly worried. I told myself I would use the restroom when I got home and everything would be fine, but But then matters escalated. The dog had not finished yet, but I started to bring her back to our building as quickly as I could.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
About a minute from the front door with other dog owners in the vicinity, I began taking smaller steps. Worry too much movement would jar things loose and I would not be able to stop. All right. A little bit. Yeah. Then things escalated again. My walk slowed to a crawl. I crushed as hard as I could. I crushed my life. There were people nearby. I did not want to do any of this, but it was no use.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I shit myself. Yeah. There you go. The dog began sniffing me. Confused. I reached for my phone to call my girlfriend to help, realizing I'd forgotten it upstairs in our apartment. I panicked, worried the other dog owners would see my destroyed designer sweatpants. Zara sweatpants. He admits, Zara, maybe he's not top of the line. So we're just editing here.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
So I immediately retreated across the street back to the park. I did not know what to do. I went back to my building. I feared I would be found and outed as a pants shitter. And it was clear that what I had done to myself, I might be trapped in the elevator with another dog owner, which would be horrible for everyone. So I improvised. I sat in a big rain puddle. Oh, man.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
And then the mud, hoping this would help conceal my accent and hopefully the smell. If anyone looked at me funny, I would say I fell. After a few minutes of wallowing, I again crossed the street and waited nervously outside my building for the lobby to be clear, then made a dash to the elevator, hoping I would not run into anyone nor the front desk person would notice me.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Other than, of course, briefly bumping into a neighbor I know who seemed confused by my appearance. I made it all the way back to my apartment without further incident. Upon opening the door, I screamed to my girlfriend to bring me a fresh trash bag. Excuse me. He says trash bag. I think trash bags are generally considered a new one would be fresh. Right.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
So let me reread that because I just think every detail should be to the utmost. you know, level here. I screamed to my girlfriend to bring me a trash bag, take the dog and to not ask any questions. I made my way to our guest bathroom, threw all my clothes away, including my shoes, got in the shower, began cleansing process.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Couldn't you flip Tunsell if you were worried about the contract after one more year is off the books? And do you think you couldn't have done better?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Of course, my girlfriend came in and asked what had happened as I showered. Uh, so then came my dilemma. Normally I would just tell her what happened. She's super cool, but it occurred to me that we had a special night planned at a hotel the next night. I did not want to do anything to make her even temporarily less attractive to me and to potentially jeopardize the proceedings.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
But I knew she had to have smelled the foulness that encircled me when I entered our apartment. So my options were limited. Was it less attractive if I did this to myself or less attractive if I was covered in the shit of another? I made my choice. I told her I slipped and fell into a pile that some drifter must have left in the park.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
After showering vigorously and using every cleansing soap, every cleaning soap we had available in our guest room shower, even accidentally using the dog shampoo at one point, we sat down on the couch and she was very concerned. I'd fell in someone else's feces. It's possible. It's probably not healthy diseases, et cetera. So eventually I came clean.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
in the 26 free agency period moving tonsil but this is us flying completely blind but then again it would scale as much as i if you're a commander she's like oh this is awesome you're like why would they have done this though so yeah i don't know i don't know what that one means that one's a little tough to figure out but if you look at some of the interior like even aaron banks four years 77 million i guess he's going to play guard for the packers
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You tried at least and told her what really happened. I expect her to be completely turned off and she definitely was. But what I did not expect was she would be hurt, hurt because I did not tell her the truth the first time. Everything seems okay now, although I wonder if she's still hurt that I didn't tell her the truth right away. The dog is traumatized. That is my story.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I'm not looking for advice, just solace. I've never been that guy.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah. At the whole point, I thought we were going to be telling him like, eventually she will get over it. She should get over it because you're in an absolute panic and you're freaking out. And when something like that is about to go down and you're trying to prevent this awful scenario that you just went through, um, You're making quick decisions.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I mean, this is ultimate flight combat training. You got to think, what do I do? And the fact that you didn't want to immediately share with her everything that had just happened to you, which is just science because you went level five, dickhead. She should understand that.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
She should be happy that you cared enough about your impression to her that you weren't running in, telling her immediately, door open. Hey, can you help? grab a brush, you know, that the relationship is so desensitized that you're not even worried about how she perceives you. I mean, that's really the win. And I would take that advice.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
You truly wanted to kind of get in there with it, but yeah, I don't, I mean, look, nobody's having a good time when the body decides you're losing tonight.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, that's what he is. But when you look at some of those numbers, that part of it helps the Washington part. We're below market on Tunsil in comparison to some of these other dudes. Again, we're talking about banks playing a different position. Was there any deal you loved?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, that was like the first pilot lesson I ever took where, you know, we're off the ground and, I mean, I took us off the ground. First lesson. The guy's like, you're going to pull back on the yoke. I'm like, are you fucking serious? I was outside of this thing 10 minutes ago and I'm like, liftoff? Rye? So I hear you, Kyle. Can I give you a funny one?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I don't want to make this a normal thing.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
It was crazy.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
All right. Yeah, I think that'll do it for us. And yeah, you know... Stay away from level five, dude.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Their Scovilles are off?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Yeah, it was a struggle. If you were married and the wife was like, I'm sorry, I'm out. I'm leaving you. Could you sue? People probably sued for dumber reasons. Although this guy admitted, he admitted that he went for the level five. So like in Saruti's case. Anyway, look, that'll do it for us today on the show. Thursday, maybe we'll ask Saruti why he's buying his t-shirts at Target.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
No, like undershirts. You know, the undershirts.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
All right. All right. My bad. My bad. I thought you were like,
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
What do they got for March? The summer line's already out. Oh, dude, they brought the ACDC one back. Get a good Miller Lite t-shirt. Yeah. All right. Thanks to Saruti. Thanks to Kyle. Thanks to Oregon. Thanks to Jonathan Frias. Our podcast, of course, now is a full video podcast up on the Spotify app. So when you listen to us, you can watch the entire episode.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
ton i'm so into this civilization book right now everybody should be reading it everybody i've got two more volumes to go though so 2400 pages this year i don't know if i'm gonna get to it all with other things that pique my interest uh all right this is the part of the podcast where i look at my library and see the to-do stack so we'll move on uh so we will have that so subscribe to our youtube page and as always check out the podcast
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
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The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Whoa, I thought only the NBA had that for you. So let's go through this... barrage of signings, but I think the first thing you have to start with here is when we watch Sam Darnold, the Detroit game, the playoff game, potential blueprint games, what is Darnold worth on the open market? What is he worth away from Kevin O'Connell and this receiving core and the O-line and all this kind of stuff?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
OK, give me one you don't like. Give me a couple.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I love that you pick Kinlaw because I'm just going to go for like full transparency. I've not broken down a ton of Kinlaw tape. I understand the name recognition. I figured if San Francisco had brought them in, especially at the one year, there's probably something there. Let's see what happens. That seems to be a really good front office. They seem like pretty smart guys. I never noticed them.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I never noticed them. Then I thought, I must be I just had a moment when I saw that news. I went, is Kinlaw even good? And then I just assumed I didn't know what I was talking about because it's like, well, have you really locked in on whether or not he's winning his matchups? I'm like, I have to be totally honest. I have a decent sized podcast, but I have not spent a ton of time on Kinlaw tape.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
I'm just so glad that you said it because I'm like, God, that seems like a ton of money for somebody that I had never really noticed.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Is it Chase Young?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Speaking of Niner guys that hung out for a little bit, I just think three years, 51 minutes, like at least he's playing again. Yeah. But that seemed, especially for a New Orleans team that had to get real creative to even figure out how to make any cap space this year, but.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
NFL Free Agency Hits and Misses with Sheil Kapadia, Plus Chandler Parsons and How History Will View the SGA-Jokic MVP Race
Well, he's worth three years and $100 million from the Seahawks, $55 million guaranteed. I think I'm scared to death if I'm a Seahawks fan.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Yeah, I felt that from the world, actually. There are some stories you break and you feel through Twitter somehow, or even through some of my columns. I feel like everyone's looking at it. I didn't feel that yesterday. I think life is just wild for a lot of people. And I think on a Thursday, all of those factors played into it. So
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
The drama is actually pretty incredible considering not a lot of people were paying attention to it. So let's just go back to when Liam Cohen met with the Jacksonville Jaguars. It was over Zoom. It was the typical initial interview and he made it to the second round and Liam Cohen knew that and so did the Tampa Bay Bucs.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
So the Bucs have a conversation with him and they say, look, we want you here. We want you to be our offensive coordinator. And he said, great, cool. Pay me more money. So they were able to get that done and make him the highest paid offensive coordinator in football. All is well. He informs the Jags. Thanks, but no thanks. I'm going to stay here.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
And I also think that there's a sentiment in Tampa Bay that Liam would be the coach in waiting if Todd Bowles were to, say, retire at some point, or maybe even if they move on from him at some point over the next few years. So Tampa feels like they've got this on lock here because they've got a nice plan. So... They agree to it verbally.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Then they tell him, all right, come on in, come sign this contract and let's get to work on your assistance and re-upping their deals. And he said, yeah, I'll be there. I'll be there. So Tampa Bay's waiting for him to come into the office and he doesn't show up.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
So they reach out to him, they reach out to his agent and the agent informs Tampa Bay that, hey, look, he's dealing with some stuff, some personal things. He'll get there soon. Meantime, as this is all happening, the Jacksonville Jaguars made the decision to fire Trent Bulkey, something that we all knew was on the table at some point here.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
We just thought the timing of it would have been before Ben Johnson went to Chicago. We figured if Jacksonville was going to actually pull the trigger on this and move on from Trent Bulkey, it would be to go get the big dogs. So they waited. Obviously Ben Johnson is now in Chicago. So Jacksonville makes this big move here.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
They decide to part ways with Trent Baalke and they call Liam Cohen and they say, all right, here's what we got for you. You pick the GM, you can have all the power and we're going to pay you buka bucks, big time money, Ben Johnson type money.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Yes. So just for those that don't know, most first-time head coaches are making six, seven. I think some of the The conversation even before that second interview, we'll call it, with Liam, some conversations that the Jags were having with his agency was somewhere around eight, nine. So he was still going to make good money if he had signed on before all this went down.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
But now the stakes are different. Right now it's different. Now, yeah, we get you want to coach a baker. Yeah, you want to be the coach in waiting. But right now you can make some pretty big money here and have all the power and control a la Kyle Shanahan in San Francisco. So he gets on a plane, doesn't tell anybody. The Bucs don't know what's going on at all.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Jacksonville is trying to keep this quiet because they still need to check off all the boxes for the Rooney role. They've already interviewed Robert Sala in person. So you have to interview two minority candidates for your head coaching position. So technically, even though it was the first round with Sala, that counts. So Sala checks one box of the Rudy role as a minority candidate.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
They need another one. Well, Patrick Graham was in the building on Thursday. So the Jags didn't want any of this to get out because they didn't want to scare off Graham and have him cancel the interview, right? If he had known before, he probably would have canceled if he knew that they were going hard at Liam Cohen. So Cohen's in the building. Graham is in the building. And
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Graham winds up leaving. Cohen stays there, meets with Shad Khan, meets with the rest of the front office, and they decide, okay, this is it. We're going to do this. He gets back on a plane on Thursday night. He lands back in Tampa. He starts calling his assistants, and he calls the Bucs and says, sorry, I'm going back on my word here. I am going to be the head coach of the Jacksonville Jags.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
So this thing is pretty much done at this point. They're working out a couple little minor details, and I'm sure by the time this podcast drops, it'll be official.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Now, remember, Shad Khan had to get him to get on that plane, right? So he had to say to him, you're going to get the power. You're getting Ben Johnson type money. And he got him to do it. And they closed it once he was in the building. They knew if they could just get him in there. And look, so much of this is the PR side to this for the Jags, right?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
They missed out on Ben Johnson because they decided to stick with Trent Bulkey. They missed out on Mike Vrabel. They weren't fast enough to even... get that moving. Not that that was actually a real option. Um, so for them, this observing this and also just having conversations with people around the league over the last 24 hours, it just felt desperate. It felt panic.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Right.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
I always go back to the Sean McVay problem we have in the NFL. It's the constant search for him and the belief that this is the one. This is the next Sean, and I'm going to be the one to find it. I don't necessarily believe that was their approach here. I think their approach was like, let's hope. I mean, I...
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
If he could be a diet Sean McVay, that's a win for the Jags at this point, based on how this all came together. But I think this is the theme. When we look back on this coaching cycle, to me, it feels messy, desperate, anxious, and scattered. Very few teams had a plan going into this, and it shows.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Yeah, you should scream to the world. In fact, you should put it on any dating app if you are on one that someone once said that you're like Mike Vrabel. Like, that's a win. It's like when people, somebody once said I look like Sloane from Monoraj. Like, I will take that all day. That's a good one. It's a great one. We both know that is not what I look like.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
But I will allow anyone to believe that.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Look, I think this coaching cycle, Mike Frabel was the number one candidate for every single team. And that's what I discovered over the last few weeks. Really? So let's just go back to the start of... When he began interviewing, if you remember, he essentially had his contract terminated with Cleveland so he could get ahead and start interviewing with owners.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
And the Jets were the first ones to get him in the building. And all the credit in the world to New York, by the way, for doing that, knowing that he had tons of options and tons of teams that wanted to meet with him. And New York was like, get here. sit with us, come in the building. I don't care if Jeff Albrecht is out on the field, practicing with the team, get in the building.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
We want you to feel New York. We want you to feel the jets. Um, and what do the jets feel like Madden?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Like, they still think of themselves as being the Jets of the 80s. You know, it's like, guys, look what you just went through the last few years. Like, In my opinion, you should probably go to Mike Vrabel's house so he doesn't have to do anything.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
We like that. So... I think, and this is from talking to people at the Jets, Vrabel just blew them away. Like they had no idea what to expect. And they had toyed around with it the year before, because remember he was fired from the Tennessee Titans kind of surprisingly, and they weren't sure about Robert Sala. Remember, that's when it started to get weird. So I think this was,
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
an interesting experiment because I wonder now if they're like, man, we could have had this wrapped up. We could have did this last year if we just made a move. So either way, he goes to New York, meets with them. He apparently really liked Woody. Woody loved him. I heard that Woody had a couple other head coach interviews and he was talking about Vrabel with the candidates.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Imagine you're at a job interview and he's like, man, you know who's great?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Only you or Laura Rutledge. So, yeah, so he winds up leaving New York and... I think the Jets were actually on his radar. I think this was a great example of where an in-person interview for both sides just works. So, you know, the teams like the Bears, who even though they could get Frabel in the building, they just decided to Zoom with him. Which to me, that's a fail. That's stupid.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Why would you not want somebody in the building when you know you want them? Either way, I heard he crushed that too. They were trying to hire him. All right. So then you had the Saints and the Jags and even the Cowboys doing some work behind the scenes. McCarthy wasn't out yet, but they were keeping an eye on it. So Gerard Mayo gets fired on Sunday and Robert Kraft just...
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
moves the train as fast as he possibly can, knowing that all these teams are closing in and essentially giving Vrabel the power, the money, everything he wants. And that's going to be tough to walk away from. But the Patriots have Drake May. And I think in the end, that's really what was the deciding factor for Vrabel, just the way Caleb Williams was the deciding factor for Ben Johnson.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Yeah. And just my observation of the celebration of this hire, just even just on their social media feeds, you can tell, you can feel it that they know they got this right. And they're trying to make up for the fact that they made a mistake and credit to craft for being so open about that.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Like I hired someone who wasn't ready is what he said, which, you know, that's tough, obviously for Geron Mayo to hear, um, But but I think making this move, you don't see this a lot with owners. You very rarely see owners go, you know, this is a guy I picked. This is the guy who was in the way, you know, that that we groomed to become the head coach. And oh, wait, we missed.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
And so in a way, he was lucky that he had the best coach that was available that wanted to return really to New England.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
No. But I equated to when I got married. The best piece of advice I got when I was dress shopping was do not go to Vera Wang and try on you know, a $20,000 dress because a, you're not going to, you're not buying a $20,000 wedding dress. Like I wasn't in the market for that expensive of a dress. My price range was like, I think it was like $3,000.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Um, because if you try on the great thing, it's so hard to go to the store that, you know, has the cheaper dresses that aren't as great. So I actually think that Vrabel interview was not good for the Jets because they saw something that they wanted, that they believed in, they were all in on. And then it became difficult. And you saw that, right? Because look how many candidates they interviewed.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
They just kept going through, kept going through, like comparing, comparing, comparing, comparing. Yeah. But to give Aaron Glenn all the credit, he kind of had to live up to this.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
And he did in terms of the excitement in that building of after they met with him the first time, they were like, okay, not only do we love the fact that he is about what we've been looking for, because that was another thing that Jets had shared with me. It wasn't that they were going through all these candidates because they were unsure of what to do.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
They knew exactly what they wanted and nobody was living up to it. Nobody was coming through. And Aaron Glenn did. Um, and the fact that Aaron Glenn wanted them, come on, that that's always a factor when you want them, it makes you feel good and it makes Woody feel good. It makes Christopher Johnson feel good. Um, And I think that really helped with all this.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
But in terms of the kind of coach you're getting, look, they've got tons of decisions to make. They've got Aaron Rodgers. They got to figure that out. And then they've got tons of free agents they got to deal with. But in terms of roster, they have talent. I'd much rather be the head coach of the New York Jets right now than the New York Giants.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
I don't think so. I think he's so divisive and he's still talented. Like, I still believe Aaron Rodgers is going to play and I want him to. Like, I want to see more Aaron Rodgers football. I just think the Jets know that this was something they went all in on. It didn't work.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
And trying to bleed this out, I think, could just make it more complicated, especially with a new head coach, a whole new regime. They want new vibes. But in the same regard, when you look at the quarterback market right now and the situation, it's not awesome. That's a problem. It's why you're seeing so many coaches run to teams with quarterbacks because it just doesn't look good.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Yeah, let's just start with making it really clear that Tom Brady is running everything in Vegas. Okay? It is. It's all Tom Brady. This is not... I think there's some rumors, some chatter. I'm telling you, this is all Tom Brady there. I mean, even his own TB12 programs are being installed there, so to speak. Alex Guerrero's out there. He's going to be working with some of the players, right?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
So he is trying to do it... and change the Raiders and have a tremendous amount of influence on them. And I'm sure you and I could probably debate whether or not that's a good thing or not. My instinct is, yeah, I mean, the guy knows how to win, obviously. Why not listen to him? I'd rather listen to Tom Brady's call on everything than Mark Davis.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
No disrespect to Mark, but Tom has a thought, an idea. He understands what it takes. Now, that being said, he's not working with a lot there. Um, in terms of, we know they don't have a quarterback. Their roster is not great. I mean, outside Max Crosby, there's not hours. Oh yeah. Yeah. There you go. Um, So the pitch to Ben Johnson has to be layered in Bradyisms, right?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
And Ben Johnson had to feel like, we're going to do this the right way. And I'm going to do this with you. We're in lockstep. We're together. We're a team. Not so much. I'm owner, you're coach. And I think that was really enticing to Ben Johnson, who has been very hesitant to hopping into this head coaching space. We talk about some teams lacking self-awareness.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
I think he has tremendous awareness, Ben Johnson, which is why he has spent so many years not just learning how to lose, but learning how to win. That was like a big part of his growth of how to handle success, because it's just as challenging sometimes as losing with loss. And he took a lot from Dan Campbell. And I think we saw that in the press conference.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
I mean, he obviously wasn't like breaking kneecaps, but I heard a lot of phrases and lingo that was like, well, that's definitely Detroit, which is a good thing. But I get why Brady was after him and Brady was enamored with him. He thought he was a brilliant coach. And, and, It was real. And Sunday, so Saturday, Detroit loses, obviously kind of in a surprising way.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
So everyone's scrambling around the league. Oh my gosh, Ben Johnson's available now. We're like, here we go. The hiring cycle's about to go because obviously Aaron Glenn as well. Um, and Sunday from what I was told, Ben Johnson basically just spent time trying to figure out what he wanted to do. This was not, I'm calling Chicago and going.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
It wasn't until late Sunday, early Monday that he started to then go, shit, I need a quarterback. Like I need a quarterback that I forget all the Brady stuff, forget how to screw up, forget, forget all of it, all of it. I need a quarterback. Um, And it makes all the sense in the world, right? When you take a step out of it, you're like, why wouldn't you go to Chicago?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Of course, you're going to pick the Raiders over the Bears right now. And you want this to be a successful run for yourself. So... For the Raiders now, they scramble. They fire Tom Telesco, the GM, because they know Ben Johnson wants to have some say in who's going to be the general manager. He doesn't want all the power, but he wants a say.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
So they're like, well, you don't want Telesco, so let's get rid of him. Well, now Ben Johnson's in Chicago. They don't have a GM and they don't have a head coach. So Brady calls his old friend, John Spitek in Tampa Bay. They know each other from Michigan. And obviously they were in Tampa Bay together when he was the quarterback there. So brings him in, hires him as a GM and they're scrambling.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Like up until two days ago, I had somebody in the building say, we have no idea what we're doing. Like they had no idea what direction that Brady wanted to go in, in terms of a head coach. And they land on Pete. And this September, Pete will be the oldest NFL head coach to ever coach in an NFL game at 73 years old.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
And, you know, as you touched on the energy that everything he brings, it makes sense. Three-year deal. I could totally see this being a situation where this is a placeholder. Where Pete comes in, straightens it up, cleans up some of the mess that was left behind, gets this thing on the right track. And hey, if he has success with it, great, let's run this thing out until he's 80.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
But if he could at least get this thing up on its feet, then maybe in a year or two, the hot coordinator can come in and Brady can then go get his guy.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Right. My dad's 70. Okay. He is so annoying and slow and just like something's off with him all the time. Like something's wrong. He's healthy. He's fine. He's great. But I can't help, I understand this is different. My father's a plumber, okay? I get it.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
But every time, even when Bill was, Belichick was in the mix a little bit and we were hearing chatter, I just, I would look at my dad on my couch and just think, imagine my dad, like, out on the field. Like, there's no chance. The guy complains when he has to shovel. How about at a press conference? Oh, that's the best one. Right.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Right? Like, how he would answer questions.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
What's interesting is there's no plan. Okay. It's all about progress.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
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I don't like ripping on Jerry Jones, actually. I have found, and I have found all season, I don't know why, I just stick up for him. Because I love the way they put together rosters. I don't love the way they deal with the business side of it in terms of contracts. But they know players, and they've built really good teams over the last few seasons.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
So that's probably why I side with him, because at least the GM knows what he's doing. I know, some misses, Derek Henry, I know every Cowboys fan is just screaming at me, like, oh, we need to get a running back. I get it. But All in all, pretty good. I don't think Jerry Jones really thought Mike McCarthy would walk. I don't think he thought that Mike would go, you know what?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
This ain't working for me. I'm not going to do this. Because that's what happened. They met. They were talking football. And in these meetings, McCarthy's thinking to himself, he's not... invested in me. This isn't a long-term situation. I'm done with this. And so I think the tone for both of them was like, I never really liked you that much anyway.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Well, I didn't really like you that much anyway, either. Let's just go our separate ways. But when you do that, just like a relationship, if you don't have a backup plan, you're left out there in the And I think that was a panic move. I think that was, let me just see, let me just feel it and see if maybe there's an opportunity. And obviously that's died down since.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
So he goes from the big name college coach and I was for the Dion hire. I love that. I thought that was a great idea to now hiring the offensive coordinator of the head coach that you fired. Like that, how does that not scream? I have no idea what I'm doing.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Now, truth be told, I shouldn't have vocalized that because I do kind of like being...
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
So they interviewed defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver out of Miami. He met with them on Thursday. Mike McCarthy is going to meet with them next week. They are kind of moving a little slower, but I also think that they've got their eye on Joe Brady, obviously the Bills offensive coordinator, who's going to be playing in the AFC championship game this weekend.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
So I think for people wondering about the Saints, this thing is going to pick up steam soon. after this weekend. I think then this thing will clear up and they'll have some answers, but they're the last ones left.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
So the New England Patriots job was never... it was always like the asterisk. Like if they, if they move on from Gerard Mayo, that's the job that was, that was always explained to me from all the different candidates. Cause I, that was always a question I asked, like, and I would have some of these guys put it in order, just the way you asked me. Um,
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Jacksonville actually got way more love from guys interviewing than I expected. And that was because they have a good defense and Trevor Lawrence. Because that was something that I was thinking about a lot during this of why isn't Jacksonville getting a lot of attention from these coaches? And my thought was maybe, yeah, the Trent Buckey thing, but maybe this is more telling of Trevor Lawrence.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Yes. I do think the worst job in all of this, it was the Raiders. The Raiders were there. The Jets were close.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
The Brady is a positive, and it certainly carried some weight. Obviously, He was getting Ben Johnson. They were operating in Las Vegas like he was going to be the coach. That's how far along the conversations were and how connected, I guess, Brady felt with Ben Johnson. That's what I actually want to find out. What was Ben Johnson's conversation with Brady when he called him?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
It was like, ah, man, going to Chicago. Caleb, baby, go get a quarterback. Because how many people have told Tom Brady no? Right? Probably not a lot.
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
I think in the end, because Mayo got fired, I can now say comfortably, I still think that that position... is the most enticing because the amount of money that they can spend here in the off season and ownership too. You can say what you want about the crafts, um, around the, around the league. Most people respect what they've done. How could you not?
The Ryen Russillo Podcast
Conference Title Game Picks With Sheil Kapadia. NFL Coach Hiring Drama With Dianna Russini. Plus What’s Up With the Celtics?
Thanks guys.