The Around the NFL podcast is a total eclipse on our hearts. Kill me. From the Chris Westland podcast studio, it's Around the NFL. I'm Dan Hansis, back from vacation. Got heroes here. Greg Rosenthal and Mark Sesler. Yes, we just did see the eclipse, or did we? I don't know.

I looked up at the sun directly for a second.

But you mustn't, Mark.

Yeah, but let's your eyes, your eyeballs will be singed and burned out. That's not the case. As far as I know. See where you are.

You are bleeding from the cornea.

Other than that.

Yeah. Otherwise, fine.

Dan motivated us to go. We missed the peak of it, but we were about to start taping. It was time, so we went up there. Unfortunately, we realized it's possible to be in a group of 35 NFL media employees. We didn't know anyone to ask for their glasses from. I was a little ahead of you guys.

I made a straight B-line looking for literally one person I knew here.Well.

I like the conceptNo dice. That in a dangerous visual setting, we would just take other people's glasses.

Well, just ask for them.

You don't need them. We'll take them.

Yes. The three of us back together for the first time in what? Well over two and a half weeks. We are also closing in on the draft. We are taping April eighth. The draft is April 25th. This I'm not going to get to. It's just simply a shit train, 8:20. 17 days away.

Masterful. Masterful numbers work by you.

My eyes actually are bothering me right now. I'm seeing some splashiness I did do a lookup, did not have the 3D glasses because didn't know anybody. Felt like first day of school. Today's episode, special one. It's an annual tradition on around NFL free agency, and it was a very strange free agency this year, or maybe it's the new normal. We'll have to see, but very aggressive. Teams are more aggressive this year. They got going earlier. Players that usually the or the types of players, or in some cases, individuals. Jadavian Clowny is a perfect example. Instead of lingering on the market into late summer, got scooped up in the first week or so free agency.

The first time he signed a multi-year contract since his rookie contract. That is a fact.

So just like the way the machine worked was different this year. So the annual Greybeards exercise, which is pulling together the best roster of 30 and over talent. There's been a depreciation of talent in the pool. We're also doing a week later, although how many names came off the market in the last seven days?Not.

A ton.It's.

A different setup.I.

Think Kyle Van Noy is the only one we might have lost.That's it.That's it early.

But coming up a little later, we're going to put together that Greybeards team and also just check in on, in general, notable names still on the market who can make your team better.

This is the first time that you've allowed Greg and I, I wouldn't use the word allowed, although I said that we are part of the process, that we're pitching.

Yes, this is going to be a collaborative effort this year. We'll see how it goes.

I see what you're doing, though, because it's potentially, but the names that are out there, it's going to be one of the most challenging seasons ever for the Greybeards.

Yeah, Dan looked at this list of players and said, I need help.

Let's get Greg and Mark involved so we can point some fingers. You're working on the assumption that when I was in Maui, I looked at the list and I was like, it's a little tougher this year.

I'm going to call in some help.

That's exactly what I think you did.

That would be way too much credit.

It's actually a compliment to you that Mark thinks you're this...

I don't know. I did not look at it beforehand, but I just thought this would be a good time to mix things up and see how it goes. If the team, like last year's team, I predicted 6 and 11, they went 4 and 13. We'll see where this team comes down and where we go moving forward as a group or me again as an individual. We will see. But before that, let's do some news.

Well, Marvin Lewis is an idiot.

Before I went away on vacation.

That's an old sound drop.

Yes. While you were in Hawaii, Greg, and by the way, what a state. Great state. Where is it in the top 50?

I mean, it was the last one to come in, I believe. Was it after Alaska? I believe it was.

At the right time it came.

What about Seward's Icebox up there in Alaska? Pass.

Street to number one. Street to number one. There was a state.

Actually, our Alaskan listeners, I apologize.

Yeah, they don't have much to do. They would cling to a podcast in certain parts of the year, weatherwise more than the other 49 states.

Beautiful in terms of nature up in Alaska. We got the pipeline, so we got some guap coming out of there. Important. Also, territory-wise, close to Russia. From a military perspective, it could be very valuable. Yeah, hop, skip, and then jump.

Yes, Sarah Palin, famously, her lawn looked out at me.

She could see Russia from her front yard. But Hawaii, Aaron, that's all I'm going to say.

Mark, that's all. Well, I'm glad the two of you enjoyed your Lush getaway.

All right, let's get to the news. But what I was going to say was before I went on my vacation, we ended our podcast with Connor Orr after a very eventful week for the You're On The NFL podcast with a Mark Sesler top 10 drops. And I was, many people reached out to me angry that that drop.Well.

Marvin Lewis is an idiot.Was excluded.

I just want everyone to know that was an oversight by the board. I obviously would have had that very near the top had I realized it, but we didn't have it.

Yeah, I mean, quickly, that came off mailback question that came in just hours before the show, and you did, from another angle, a lot of work to compile what you did. That is one of my more favorite self-drops. I will say there was a time that Marvin Lewis was actually in our green room. He was being dipped into the network rounds a little, and I don't know. He got a little uncomfortable after a while. I would assume he had never heard that in his life, except you never know how these things filter up, and he just gave me a weird look, and I was like, I hope he hasn't heard it.

I feel like it's safe to say he was He did not know about the job.

I'm not walking around thinking he knew. It's just there was a weird interaction at the beginning.

He is back in the league. He's assistant head coach of the Raiders. How about that?

That adds up.

Evans to Betsey.

Let's move into the news, and let's start with, yes, the big news that broke late last week. I was vaguely tracking it from a bungalow. Stefan Diggs got traded. Not really a surprise, but still huge news in the NFL when Diggs gets moved to, of course, the Houston Texans. We have a little more details that have come out around the trade, which, of course, went for a 2025 second-round pick via the Vikings. Four Diggs, a six-round pick of 24, and a fifth rounder in 25. After the trade, Houston, Greg, he does some business with Diggs. They give him a raise, a straight-up raise. His previous base salary went from 18 to 22.5 million in guaranteed money. And importantly for Diggs, they also voided the final three years of his contract, which we're going to cover 25, 26, 27. So he is now on essentially a prove it deal at age 30 in a new environment, making a little bit more money. So as far as fresh starts go for Stefan Diggs and considering the quarterback he's with, this sets up pretty well for him, and really both sides, because I know you guys already talked about this, but there's a non-zero chance that Diggs isn't a big-time player anymore.

And the Texans, in that case, would probably want out after one year. That's the whole setup here.

Yeah. A lot of people had their takes on the Diggs trade, and we spent a lot of time talking about it. Then this news comes out a couple of days later, and people adjusted their takes that It wasn't as good a move for the Texans that it's essentially a one-year deal. I pushed back on that because, yes, he had a few years left on his contract before, but if he had played at a level that they hoped to get a lot of him this year, he would have been wanting more money right away because his base salaries were very low, and it would have became a whole thing between the two sides, and they're trying to avoid that. I don't think it dramatically changes the move that much. I liked it before. I still like it now. And there's a very different thing, and the ESPN headline to it was, We'll Let Him Get to free agency. But that's not true. They have the franchise tag. They also have exclusive negotiating rights from basically now until next free agency. And that's a totally different situation than all the other teams. So if he does play well, they'll find a way to pay him.

And if they don't, they'll franchise tag him. And a lot of angry Bills fans are in my mentions being like, Well, he's not going to be happy if they franchise tag. It's just, why are you worried about all this stuff that is going to happen if it's a good outcome for the Texans. They'll figure it out. If he doesn't work out, then he will be afraid.

We mentioned at the tail end of that conversation that this very well could have been a one-year situation for Houston. From that angle, the money aside, we don't worry about the money. They've got the money. They can pay them. They can front load it all to this season and then see where they are a year from now. Because what I think a bad team does is turns around and gives Stefan Diggs a ton more money when we don't know what player he is right now. It's a perfect fit for one season for a team that has kicked open their Super Bowl window. Right.

And if he does get the magic back and has a huge year with a great young quarterback, I would not even think about tagging the man and sitting on that tag because you're going to end up with an unhappy wide receiver, which has been the case in multiple spots for him. But that's best case scenario situation, because if you're going to want to put the tag on that, then he was the star that they think they're getting. By the way, speaking of money, Diggs has a lot of money. He's had a fantastic career, big-time receiver. So he could do things like paying new teammate, Jimmy Ward, the safety, 100 grand to get the number one jersey. He moves from number 14, his whole NFL career, to number one, which he wore in college, and Ward goes back to number 20, which he already had previously worn with the Niners. A cool 100 Gs, Mark, gets you any number you want.

I wish that in the world that we work in the media circle, that we had numbers, and someone like some big shot could be hired by this place and like, Oh, Mark, I want to take your number. Let me give you a hypothetical. $200,000.

This is a little inside baseball for this particular studio, the Chris Wesling podcast studio. But Infimously, you struggle with the recording box that we plug our jacks into, our headsets into.

Yeah, am I right? Infimously, you might say.

Yeah, it has been an ongoing source of tension since we moved here. How much would you pay, let's say, Greg for his box? So you would switch boxes and never have to worry about that again.

Would you pay-Not even a cent.

Oh, really? No. But you talk so much about it.

Yeah, but-I'm giving you a ticket out. Because then it's-Mark's sneaky cheap. No, then Then it takes the onus off of management to correct the sound box. I'm still trying to strong arm them into paying attention to the situation.

My grandfather, Paul Hansis, Elk of the Year, 8990 in Pearl River. Big deal. Basically, the Elks are like many other... What do you call those places?Social clubs.Social.

Clubs, thank you.Veterans, typically an Elks Club.

Typically, my grandfather was a World War II veteran. We I would occasionally, because my dad and my brother, or my uncle, my father's brother, Uncle Ed, because of Baba's, what was his name, strong ties to the Elks, they came into the Elks as well. They signed up for the Elks. Then occasionally, we'd be taken to get drinks where we'd go to the bar, which was a wild scene. I can't even tell you everything that was going on at the Elks, but it was wild. Long way to get to that all the veterans did at this bar, I went in there a couple of times when I was in college, was just call each other cheap the whole time. That's all it was. That was the only way these 70-year-old men could communicate and bust balls was just to go, College A, Alligator arms. Why don't you pay for a round? All right, T-rex arms, in all sorts of terms in that range. What Greg said to you just now, Mark, triggered memories of the Elks. I do agree that you are, in this case, showing a desire to stay away from your pocket.

No, I strongly disagree.A.

Little Alligator arm action.

Who do you think most liberally-Gecko arms.

It's weird that they just use variations of arms. Who throws money around town? That Kristen Wig character on SNL. Old Sea turtle arms.

Who throws money around town? What order would you put the three of us in?

I would say, well, throw some money around town is a wild term.

But just to say that you would think that's how I operate.

You are, in many ways, you're handing out a lot of money a lot of times in a lot of situations.

That is accurate.

No, you're right. That was unfair. You really added the context that was necessary there.I.

Corrected you.You.

Did.i.

Apologize.okay. Stefan Diggs was lucky, but first of all, good job by Ward. Holding out for 100K, he held his feet over the fire. That's a lot of money. I just checked. Jimmy Ward's made $55 million in his career. Yeah. Oh, yeah. He's not a... Really? Diggs has made 136. He's been in the league a long time, Jimmy Ward. But he's lucky because Ward is not that popular of a player relatively. I don't think many people own those jerseys. And Kirk Cousins brought up that he wasn't going to get number 8 from Kyle Pitz. We never circled back on this because he found out someone's got to buy all the Pits jerseys that have been produced for sale to fans for him to turn it into Cousins jerseys, and that would have been hundreds of thousands of dollars. And Kirk was like, I just don't care that much about it, and neither did Kyle Pits. That doesn't seem fair. They were just like, Forget about it. It's fine. I'll wear 18.

I think it's a year or something.

Yeah, it's a year. And there's a lot of Kyle Pits jerseys out there.

Well, Greg, what about all these players that switched to zero or two or whatever? Were they yanked to do the same thing? Yes. Okay, well, then fine.

Just stay consistent. I want to give Diggs a little credit because sometimes he could be a pain for teams, but he's also a big-time player. Also, he had a chance when they did the whole switcheroo and let skilled players get single-digit numbers to move to number one with the Bills, and he decided it wasn't fair to Bills Mafia, the fans that had his 14 jerseys. So that's why he held up. It's a little pop for Diggs in a big spot.

Fair reporting.

Greg, do you have your Kyle Dugger jersey?

I don't. I only own one jersey ever. I think I've only owned one jersey. It's a Troy Brown jersey with that.

Nice. First Jersey. Mine was Boomer Assiaison. Got it from Santa 93.

Bernie Cozard. Although I would not say it was one of those official... I was a child. It wasn't one of those $180 official ones. It was like, knock off.

My parents were not getting me a jersey. It never happened.

Yeah.

They were like, That's too much.

Well, not the official one, but you could get the ones.

Get a T-shirt.

I mean, it couldn't have been too hard scrabble. You could get the jersey. It was like 35 bucks or something.

Like a B minus version. You didn't get the official 150.

That's what I was talking about.

Anyway, Kyle Ducker. The Patriots continue to light up the imagination of the football public. They sign the safety to a four-year, 58 million dollar contract. The deal is worth up to 66 million, includes 32.5, fully guaranteed. He's 28 years old, but just at the end of his rookie contract. So he came into the league a little later. But, Greggy, a lot of, and I just did it a little bit, too, a little bit of snarkiness around the Patriots offseason about how many of their in-house guys they're locking up, considering there's just no buzz and energy around the team the last couple of years. But it Logically, you keep your guys that are good, and then you got to find a way to supplement that with fresh blood.

I look at the method that Ron Wolf used to use, Ellie Wolf's father, and then certainly Ted Thompson and Brian Gutekuntz with the packers. This is what they did. It's just a coincidence that the few good young players on the Patriots roster, and there's not a ton, happened to all come up for free agency this year. So I think it was smart. They kept him. They kept a one-year. Who am I forgetting that they also Hunter Henry. Hunter Henry. He's not a younger player, but worth keeping around. They're probably going to have to pay Christian Barmore at some point. I'm fine with it.

They have a solid secondary. It's like you don't want to have that be torn down on top of it all.

Their defense looks good on paper. I mean, their defenses are unpredictable, but on paper, they have a top 10 defense. Basically, they haven't had-They were a top 10 defense last year.

They haven't had a Q rating this low since the mid '90s, pre-Parcells Patriots.

No, there's not a lot to get excited about in terms of the moves they made offensively that's bringing players back.

The news wasn't all bad for the Panthers last season. It was mostly bad. But there was a breakout player in Derrick Brown, the defensive tackle, who really thrived under Ajiro Everald.

He piled it.

In the three, four scheme. He set a Panthers record for tackles by a lineman. He is a big time run-stop stud. So what do the Panthers do? They said, That's a guy we want to keep in our building. So he agrees to a four-year contract extension. The team announced on Friday it's a 96 million dollar deal. Market includes over 63 million guaranteed. That per year average of 24 million puts him in the top five for a defensive tackle. So you're paying him as an elite player. I don't have mega takes about Derek Brown, whether he deserves to be in that class, but perhaps you do.

I would say that he From a physical perspective, he is a dominant, gigantic human being. This is a team with no first-round pick. You moved on from Brian Burns, DJ Moore, your Torgross models goes to San Francisco. It's like, at some point, Carolina Panthers. You've got to do what the Patriots just did. Keep one of your foundational guys when you're running a three, four scheme. No brainer to me.

These nose tackles are defensive tackles. Closest thing we have to nose tackles, like a run stopping defensive tackle. Take a little time to develop. It reminds me a ton of Dexter Lawrence, who the first year or two, Giants fans and Panthers fans talking about Dexter Lawrence and Derek Brown are like, Man, we used a pretty high pick on a plugger. And then they get older and they get tougher, and suddenly they're the best players in the league at their position. So it's a defensive tackle, I don't know what you... Explosion in terms of the money that has been out there the last couple of years between Chris Jones and Wilkins and Matt Aboukke and even Jeffrey Simmons, Duran Payne, and Brown fits right as one of the best players at the position.

Jordan Mylata in other news. The international pathway program.

Thumb fire. Thriving. Yeah.

Thriving. We talked about the new Chief's potential playmaker added to the flow.

More like a highway than a pathway at this point.

A highway paved solely by Henry Hotchin.

With gold.

With gold, and in a handsome manner by Henry. The IPP program is a method being employed by the league to get more players in international markets trained up, exposed to the game, giving them opportunities. When you hit on one of these players, man, look, Greg, look at... I'm rewatching Which I highly recommend sports fans because we all watched it during the pandemic. We were all in a drug state in a way. Some of us, literally, some of us just the whole thing you remember 2020 in a hazy manner. The Last Dance, the Jordan doc, rewatching it with my sons. It's a little salty language in parts, but overall, they're fascinated by this Jordan figure who's like Babe Ruth for these kids. The Dream Team opened the doors for international play for the NBA. Now, Greg, you follow the NBA closer than either Mark or I. The percentage of star players in the NBA, what is it? Like 30 or 40% are from overseas now?

The last handful of MVPs, yes, Giannis and then Luka's on first-team NBA.

It's a totally different league now than it was 30 years ago. Jordan Mylata is the shining star of this international movement, a left tackle that the Eagles as a seventh-round pick. He had very little experience with football as a sport, but had the tools, and then they got him trained up, and he learned the game and became a dominant tackle at one of the game's most important positions. So he gets paid a extension that is three years, $66 million. He remained a top-level tackle last season. He hasn't been, Greg, seen by people who vote for things. He's never been a pro-bowler. That surprised me. That threw me to. Never been an all pro. But anyone you talk to, the baldies of the world, say nothing but big time positive things about Mylata. So another no-brainer to keep in your building.

A PFF star, too. Always in the top five, six.What.

Gives?that's What's with the Mylata bias?

Maybe people were just giving too many Eagle offensive linemen these awards becauseWhat if it's a Hodgston bias?Kelsey and Lane Johnson.Hansom Hank bias.Have dominated it. You're right. Sometimes offensive linemen, people are a year or two behind. Now they're really behind on Mylata, where they get the Pro Bowl a little later than you expect. Kelsey and Johnson, by the way, started at Russellmania over the weekend.Showed up.I.

Did see that.Kelsey.

Was very involved.Made a little attention. I mean, these guys, they got so much talent. Jordan Mylata, also famously a great voice, did a bang-up job on the Kelsey Christmas album, and also a great around the NFL guest.

Remember that? Yeah, our Super Bowl.

He was legitimately a great guest. In fact, we should get him back on the show.We.

Should try.

His handI think Henry can help us with that.

His hand was as big as any of our computer screens.

That's what I recall. Most of your analysis today, Mark, is just based on the sheer size of the humans involved.

He was stunning because you get us, and then you got Derek, Henry came on that same week, and Milata, and it's just like, Oh, these are gigantic people. I'm done with these group photos. It is in general.5'8..

When we do these remote shows and we have the guests on, Mark does not like to be next to the giant player, typically.

I enjoy meeting them and stuff, but it's like that's not a winning photo op, in my opinion, where it's like, Oh, you're 4 feet shorter than this defensive talent.

We should start photoshopping the photos and make you taller than whoever's there.Stupe.Miles.

Garrett was a tough scene for...

I couldn't even speak that day. I think he thought I was from another point.

This is why the Eagles stay good, though, is they get ahead of things on these contract extensions. They also paid Landon Dickerson this offseason. So not only did they bring in a lot of people, and you think, Okay, Kelsey's retiring. Is it going to be a big transition for this offensive line? And they've planned ahead pretty well. They draft Cam Jurgen's. They have a third-round pick, Tyler Steen, who's ready to go. It's like they just invest over and over and over. And that's why for them, a bad season is nine and seven or fallen apart late to go eleven and six. Whereas for most teams, the bad season is the New England Patriots.That's what happened in the last.

Yes, but the future of the Touche Push remains enigmatic.

I love that for the eagles.

How the eagles stay good. The football cognizante.Paid.

Those big guys.

Ability to completely that he washed the end of last season from memory is astounding.

I just mean on a relative scale, their strategy was clearly pay for linemen. I agree with you.Bull side to the ball. That's worked in the long run.

I agree with what you're saying overall, But that was a historic meltdown. Yeah. I know we're not... Listen, we're supposed to now turn the page and everything's fine again. But I still have questions.

It has been pushed from memory. It has been pushed from memory, I think, a little bit, and I'm with you. People don't like it. You still have the same head coach, and people are talking about the personality there.Egles.

Fans don't like it.

No, of course not.

That's why we need you, Dan, to be the truth teller from now until week one, that they're going to stink if you don't believe in them.

Here's the thing. I'm not even saying that. But it seems as if we've decided. No, we've decided that that didn't happen anymore. If I have to be the person to say, Oh, the Eagles have done it again. Oh, this is how the good stay good. And like, Oh, man, the Eagles are killing to this offseason. Someone has to say they also had one of the most unbelievable collapses in recent NFL history, and they kept the coach, and they kept the quarterback, and they're running it back again.

I don't think it would be fair to suggest that you're the only person in media saying that they didn't melt down.

Go find it. Go find it anywhere on the internet.

It has been scrubbed. I will take a look after the show.

You know who did it? That Bradley Cooper. With his charm, he wiped it all. Him and Lurrie working together.

It was a tough winter for Cooper. The eagles fall apart in the same way that his Oscar hopes on that movie.

Has there ever been a more bald-face attempt to win an Oscar? Cooper, get back to what you're good at. Get out of the luxury suite. All right. Stop. Did anybody see that? I watched it. How was it?

I think I mentioned this on one of our... It suggests something that you watched.

We're not giving you a trophy because you got a fake nose on, bro.

I openly could not stand it, but then I thought about it a lot afterwards. It made me think, and it was a very strange... But it felt like Oscar Bade to me, which has worked for him in the past. We know that much about him. Why are we still talking about him? I don't know.

Did you guys talk about the Jets getting Hassan Redik?

That was a nice move. I thought we were very fair in our coverage of that and praised them.

I think it led the show.

Nice. All right, 8 o'clock, the light. The Chiefs re-signed Mike Dana to a big deal. You know who else? Clyde Edwards-Hlaire returns. Greg, I have to say, CEH coming back is one of the underdog tales of the first round. Well, no one-I thought there was no chance he would ever be in a second contract.

I don't think there was a lot of interest in him. I got to say, he did make some plays in the stretch run. He only was given the ball like 3-5.

Did anyone ever see more DOA as a first-round pick after two years?

When they were telling you to draft him first overall in fantasy as a rookie.

Took them a number 11 overall. Anyway, the voters shoot down the stadium bill, by the way, for the Royals and the Chiefs, which tough spot for the Chiefs who, coming up back-to-back titles, probably thought they'd get that bump. They did not. There's a lot of uncertainty around that situation.

It got It was blown away, too. It wasn't close. I think it's tough for civic groups of people to suggest they're going to pay for these things at this point.

It's old news, though. It used to be the way it was. Draft prospect, Yvandre Sweat gets a DWI. My goodness. It made me think of Dak Prescott getting a DWI two days after his pro day. He dropped down to the fourth round. Let's see what happens with Sweat, who was supposed to be a first or second rounder. The Cultury sign Julian Blackman, the Dolphin sign Teilhard Tart, and Kyle Van Nooy goes back to the Ravens, Greggy.

Three players that were in my top 101, and there's only three left total in the top 50.Woof..

Segway.yeah..

Up next, Grave Dirts.

Okay.

We're going to save the day. Great bills. Just give us one last second. We're here today, gone tomorrow. Will you watch or follow? Rage don't mean I cannot play. You will see me leave the way. Great bis, never go away. Never go away. Never go away. Never go away. Never go away. Great bis, never been away. There goes my hero. Watch him as he goes. Watch him as he goes. There goes my hero. He's over the dead. The dead. The dead. The Gray Beards are back. We've been doing this exercise, how many years now? Ten years? Decade. How many times have I been singing that song?

What a song. It's getting better.

It's like the... What I'm hoping for is the Mariah Carey Christmas song Bump, where it just charts every year at the same time.

Who is your greatest influence as a vocalist?

Dave Grohl, maybe, but maybe Grohl adjacent. So let's go Pearl Jam, a little Eddie Vedder. I've gotten one of your favorite bands, The National. I've gotten that in the past.

I'm surprised you didn't bring Greg in for some a singing role there because Greg is a renowned former singer.

That's true. In fact, last year, I think you might have had the last line, and I apologize for taking that from you this year.

No. I I think you've done it the right way. Now, I do think, now that I'm a member of the organization, the controversy that we've had over the last year, the Greybeards, that many groups were saying, You should play that song and the national anthem at your games. And I say, No, this has replaced the national anthem for the Greybeards. This is their anthem.

Yes, you have said that before, and I'm glad that you've said it again. This year is a real tough one because, like I said at the top of the show, teams have been more aggressive. And as a result, when you look through the list and you guys, like we said earlier, changed it up this year. I used to write this as an article on the site. Now we're just talking it out as a group and going through it, and we're going to land on some things together. Perhaps if you guys, maybe I could serve as a bit of a tiebreaker in certain situations, but in general, I'd like us to build this team together. It's not going to be easy because there's not a lot on the bone, not a lot of meat on the bone. I want to say one other thing before we get going. This has always been, yes, the players from the Greybeards have to be either over 30 or turning 30 before the Super Bowl. I am like the NFL. The NFL makes changes to their product every year. I've been resistant to ever change the Gray Beards process, but you have to go with the times.

Because of the lack of options, because of the way the NFL views skill position players, especially runningbacks, where 30 is basically the retirement home. But that's not necessarily what this is about. When they get to that second contract, around 28, I was thinking, that's when running backs, wide receiver, we'll throw tight ends in there as well. So I'm changing the guidelines for those three position groups, or I could just keep it to wide receiver and running backs. Let's do that. 28 at some point in the season, it makes you a gray beard because that's really the way the league is now. Greg.

I don't think this is going to change my picks much at all. To me, it's just there aren't many free agents available whether they're 28 or not. I do think it's going to mess up how the song goes. That it'll be like, They're over 30, except for Running Back in tight end, which are 28.

Give me a chance to work with it lyrically and find a melody. I think also, to be fair, it's inclusive because we've always had that friend in their 20s who suddenly had white hair or when they went gray or white much earlier, and they probably feel not part of society in some way. This says you are part of this operation.

I don't know who these 28-year-olds are, so I'm curious who you threw out.

It didn't change the list much for me in terms of an earthquake level.

And I'll just real quick because usually I look back at the Greybeards the year before, and as I usually say before we get into it, there are players that are available now to any team that will play a big role for teams in the upcoming season. And that is true. But I'm looking at last year's team, and you didn't see a lot of that. So last year, I'll just go real quick. At quarterback, we had Wentz and Bridgewater. At running back, McKinnon and Latavius Murray. At wide receiver, Odell, Jarvis Landry, Julio Jones, and T. Y. Hilton. At tight end, Mercedes Lewis and Cameron Brait. Who's 40? If you really want to know, The line was Donovan Smith, Roger Saffold, Ben Jones, Gabe Jackson, and Taylor Luan. On defense, I'm really hurting Davian Clowny not being a gray beard. He has been a gray beard more than he's not been a gray beard in his career. Last year was Clowny, Leonard Floyd, Frank Clark, and Justin Houston. I mean, these are name brands that you're just not going to see in a lot of cases this year. Somehow, Dominic and Sue was on our interior line last year.

Quentin Jefferson, Shelby Harris, Matthew Ioannidis, Anthony Barr, Marcus Goldman, John Bostik at Linebacker. It feels like some of these guys are already ancient history. They never got that chance, those Greybeards. Then in the secondary, Marcus Peters, Bryce Callahan, Byron Jones, William Jackson, Robbie Gold was the kicker, he retired, Andy Lee at Hunter. That was last year's team. I didn't hear a lot of guys that actually had big ears from that list. If you guys can throw any. Did you hear any there?

Their names did in a big ears, though.

Clowny had a good year.

Clowny did. One of his best years.

Yes. Donovan Smith started the Super Bowl at left tackle, so that was an effective-Sue did a lot of sky sports coverage. The offensive line and the defensive line was doable.

Who was the quarterback last year?

The quarterback was Wence and Bridgewater. Let's start there. Wenz and Bridgewater. Joe Flacko was out there. Isn't that crazy? He was out there, was not even selected for a fake football team. Let's start with the quarterback position this year because it is not in a great spot, Greggy. I think we all agree, Ryan Tana Hill, age 35, is a perfect guy to slot in. First time, gray beard. Yeah. So welcome to the team. But thank God, Tana Hill didn't get signed in the last week or so because where are we going if Tana Hill goes down? He's had injury issues.

You'd have to go to like, Blaine Gabbert, Trevor Simeon. So yes, there's a steep... We don't need to keep him healthy.

Teddy Bridgewater, I think, is familiar with my appreciation of him over the years. He's known as a leader, a coach. He's becoming a high school coach. I would be willing to offer him even more money than that high school could possibly be giving him. To bring him back. To bring him back as a backup and coach. Maybe he can start.

He was giving interviews about-That seems like it's breaking the rules, though. Here's the thing. Teddy's three years younger than Teddy. We all love Teddy, but Teddy was given interviews to the Detroit media in early December, saying how excited he was to meet the NFL. He was like, Dude, you're the backup quarterback. I think he's going on to a different phase in his life. I threw out Brian Hoyer because he is a good locker room dude, but he can't play anymore either.

It's very rough. We'll take Hoyer as the backup, I think, over.

Do we haveWe need backups? Or we just...

Yeah, we need backup.

I believe in Tana Hill. I think he provides the right spark for this.

Locked and loaded QB1. Maybe one of the best QB1s we've had in this exercise. Isn't it also crazy that Blaine Gabbard is 34 years old now?

Well, a lot of these names would make all the three of us feel much older than we were.

And he's been replaced by last year's Greybeard, Carson Wendt. So that might spell the end of Gabbard's.

Although he was with the Chiefs, and if Andy Reid thought he was a sound backup or a good option, should we perhaps go with Blaine as the backup?Bruce.

Ariens.the reason they wanted him there, apparently, was because Mahomes, especially, was obsessed with Tom braided and just wanted Tom Brady's backup.

That was part.Do we want that?I.

Mean, there's worse reason.What.

Do you guys think?

There's worse reason. I'm a little worried, too.Tan.

Hill.that's a really weird explanation.

Well, it was part of it. They just thought he was around him for a couple of years.

They called Drew Bledso first, and they were like, Drew, you want to be my backup this year? All right, should I put in Blaine?

Tanne Hill also had some rough moments last year.

Yeah, behind a terrible offensive line.

Some other games where he looked better. All right. Let's put Gabber. He's a handsome guy, too.

Very good looking. He'll pop in the team photo. All right, running back. This is where, again, I had to make that change. It changes things because Ezequiel Elliott is in his age 28 season. A lot of rumors connecting him going back to Dalser. It's being floated out there by certain people. What are you laughing about?

That I-We could call this the Zeke rule if we want. It's funny that you changed the rule to get Zeke on, although he does feel like a graybeard. I think he literally does have gray hair. Is he?

Is it gray in it?

I think he has some gray in it. I just assumed he was over 30 without checking. That's why I'm laughing. A lot of miles. I wrote his name down without even checking.

Yeah, we got the original age boundary, clipped him, and it clipped guys like Kareem Hunt, Dalvin Cook. But I guess now all these people are back in the conversation.

It's funny because I had the same two guys we had a year ago. Yes, same. Latavius Murray and Jerrick McKinnon. I'm like, Okay, we're going to get by with that.

I said Zeke and Kareem Hunt.

But we're going to lose... I think we're going to lose Zeke in a couple of weeks. That's the one problem here, right?

No. Once they're a gray beard, they're a gray beard forever. Okay, cool. That's an important distinction that I always have to lay out there. Okay. You're saying you think that... But you also...

Listen. All right. I'm going to put up a stop sign on Kareem Hunt. He looked woeful last year. He did some things. He also had his off-field issues. For a fake team, we can keep Kareem Hunt and his three yards per carry off the list. He did not look like the same Kareem Hunt to me a year ago. It looked like he might have suddenly hit the cliff.

I'm fine with that. We can let Kareem walk. I will say, just from because you're being very analytical, and that's important, Craig, you're looking at it's not, as Wes always said, it's not just about the name, it's the game. But we got to put some meat in the seats. Yeah, but Kareem Hunt is not. No, I'm saying that's whyI want Zeke. I want Zeke on the roster. You know what?

I get that. He's on the ticket.Meet.

In the seats. Like a lot ofButtocks in the chairs.

Like a lot of sad Patriots fans, I will defend the Zeke era in New England that I'm sure people that weren't like... He obviously doesn't have the greatest explosiveness ever now, but he was okay. I think he's doing okay. He's perfect for this team.

We are pairing Zeke with someone else, though, right? Yes. I would lobby for Jerrord McKinnon.

Okay, so Greg said that, too. So let's roll with that. Good. And these guys are-He can also tell us about what it's like to win a Super Bowl.

That matters. Multiple times.

Yeah, that's true. Here are some other options. So we said Zeke, Boston Scott, Damian Harris just retired. Kam Akers, not eligible. He's only 24. Dare Agunboale. Poor J. K. Dobbins is out there still, but just 25. Matt Breida is an option for us. Rashaad Penny is an option for us.

He's got to be under 30 as well.

He is. I like what we've cooked up here.

Tavius Murray is 34.

Tavius Murray has had a strange career where he never seems to age and always is better than the younger people around him. But I like what-So Jerr It makes the graybeard back to the-J.

K.

Dobbit, by the way, as a guy, I would be intrigued about as an NFL team. I know he's coming off a serious injury, but I think he'd be worth a shot.

All right, wide receiver. Here we go. A lot of options. We're going to lead with someone who was a graybeard last year for the first time, Again, meeting the seats. You need somebody on the cover of the media guide. It is Odell Beckham Jr. Once again leading the wide receiver group. Anybody disagree with that?

Well, I don't disagree, but according to the rule that he's on, he's on. I would say, yes, absolutely. You want to sell the tickets. Children and adults alike would be fascinated by the concept. He's linked very heavily to the Dolphins right now.

Would children be into it? It's been a long time since the catch at the Metta.

You could sell a lot of that.

Walker is pretty into Odell. He still has a thing.

There's a with Odel.

In the catch, and there's some highlights you can go back. But yeah, him and Tana Hill, it's a bigger picture of Odel. It's like he's got the big face, and then Tana Hill's maybe a second face.

That's the cover. Turn in the other way.

I think that's the cover of your guide because that's a real quarterback people know.

But that was a little bit like... Remember those in the '80s, they would do the family pictures where it would be the profile, the child's head, and then the pose of them together, holding blocks.

They do that with people and their cats. There's a second circle where the cat is looking in a different direction.

We got big funk behind the glass. The stuff this guy can do in the edit is remarkable.

It's phenomenal. I thought you were going to talk about his cats because there's not an animal that Randy Chávez is not taking care of in the entire animal planet.

I'm not talking about cats, but we can have a separate... Let's save it for the feline podcast. Randy, if you know, we'll talk about it off mic, but we want the old 1983 perspective shot, and then that's in the distance. Maybe it's a little phased out a little bit. It's not as clear. Then in the foreground, it's some type of action shot, something like that. Okay, good. Anyway, Odell, I'm going to throw out Tyler Tyler Boyd, who's 29 years old. What do you guys think about Tyler Boyd?

Well, I think this rule is... I don't know why this rule exists if we don't use it to get the younger player that still has upside.

I thought he turns 30 during the season, so you don't even need the rule. He's good either way. Solid. The Zeke rule. Maybe coming off his worst year, but he still had 667 yards in that year, it just seemed like maybe the contract situation was bothering me. He did some mental errors, some drops.

Well, we don't love that, though.

But a nice slot receiver. I think this is our strongest position group on the team.

He has upside. I like him.

I think we got to add a little spice to this mix, too. I think we got to bring in Michael Thomas. It's time.

I have him, too.

Come home to the Grave here.

A little bit of a lockerLocker Room lawyer. We want a locker room lawyer in the building.

It's a fresh start, though. There is this, what if he stays healthy and he doesn't have this 18th-year-old injury?

This media guy is not looking too bad, by the way. No. We have the guy that has the catch record. We have Zeke, who was one of the most famous NFL players of the previous decade. We have Ryan Tannehill.

Carried a multiple episode of Hard Knocks.

That's true. Also, when you get Ryan Tannehill, you get Lauren Tannehill as well. You do?

Yeah. I would say, especially for fans that have been in a coma for two and a half, three years. This looks like an all-star.

I would push back in terms of the locker room lawyer aspect. What? I think we're looking forward to 2024, 2025. Social media is key. If things go wrong, he'll keep... All attention is good attention. I think Michael Thomas will keep us in the news.

I don't like that Saint's element bringing it into my building, but I understand Thomas is someone that you want to bank on, maybe giving you a little... He's a named Brent, so I'm with you. I'm just a little worried about it. Just lean into the marketing side of this. We need good coaching. We need a strong base in terms of leadership. All right. I'm going to add a fourth receiver here. I know Thomas we're going to put in the slot, but I also like Hunter Renfro in the slot here.

Now you're using the age rule for what reason? What do you mean? Although he has been balding for a long time.

He's older than you think. He's just under the line there.

His hairline was hurting on hard knocks as a rookie. So yes, he'll fit in visibly. But also, I know you waged a war against Renfro early in his career, Greg, and then he fell out of favor with the Raiders. It felt like the last couple of years, but he's still just... This is his age 28 season. I I'm going to put him up. Is there someone else that you guys want to grab?

I want MVS on this team. I think we got the slot handled with boy and Thomas. I want some speed. It's pretty rare to have a gray beard with some deep speed. He's quiet all season, but in the nonexistent playoffs that the gray beards have never made. Well, this team is not making the playoffs. He comes up big in the playoffs.

Mvs, what do you think, Mark?

Very frustrating player, but that's not going to be unlike three quarters of our roster, so that fits right in.

You, MVS, Is over Runfro for you?

Well, Renfro, you also have to bend the rules. I thought Renfro was already in, and we were picking our one final goal.

We have Odell, Tyler Boyd, Michael Sterling Sheppard.

I don't know. It gets ugly. Marquise Goodman. I'll go MVS. I just find him frustrating.

All right, I'm okay with that.

You know who actually had this? I think it was the second highest percentage of snaps of any available wide receiver free agent that was over 30 was Allen Robinson. I was like, Wow, Allen Robinson played a lot for the Steelers last year, but I do not feel like bringing an Allen Robinson.

Allen Robinson is not on this team.

He can't. Julio Jones caught a pass in the playoffs last year. Do you remember that? Thirty-five years old. For the Philadelphia Eagles. It's a thing that happened.

Yeah, he was gravier last year. Randall Cobb is out there. You know who else is out there? Now, not graybeared eligible, even under the Zeke rule. But Chase Claypool is not employed anymore. I don't know if he's going to get employed anytime soon. He might be in the, whatever What's the Foucault, the Spring League called it now, NFL? He might have to go reestablish the brand at this point and to think that the bears surrendered a second-round pick for him two years ago. It was crazy.

That gets washed away in the current hype.

I went to confirm that Julio Jones caught a pass. He got three passes in the playoffs. Hell, yeah. If you're wondering how far that eagles offense fell.

All right. Do we have to take a break? We're due for a bigger... Let's take a break, and then we'll get through the rest of the Greybeard's All right. So far, so good, I have to say. When you look at the offense, now let's get to tight end. There are some options here. The one that jumps out to me is Logan Thomas, 32 years old. I'm with you. Ceeju Ozama is coming off a bad knee injury. He is on the market. Bobby Tanyan is out there.

How do the real health situations factor into this?

They factor in. Okay.

I love Logan Thomas as an option. Been productive throughout his career.

Do we want Jimmy Graham on that media?

Coming off an injury. We keep bringing back Mercedes-Lewis, and so does the NFL. He's now 40. To have a 40-year-old gray beard is pretty exciting.

Yeah, I had Louis.

We can put him on the coaching staff.

Not with Jimmy Graham, though. I think Jimmy Graham is better for the media guide.

Does Jimmy Graham put me in the seats? I don't know at this He did release a...

He had an Instagram post a few weeks ago that seemed to sound retirement-ish. Just like, Hey, the end of the season was quick. Didn't get a chance I just wanted to thank everyone for a fun year in New Orleans. I think Logan Thomas and I like Mercedes-Lewis as their backup.

Is he turning 40 this year?

He's 40 now. He is 40.

That's special.

I think that has a nice... Get some think pieces and some nice-He was literally drafted with Maurice Jones-Drew.

I know. Mjd is always talking about him. Mjd says he's still a player in the league. It's cute. Let's see. Let's see. Kicker. Man, I really wish I could put Robbie Gould on here, but I think he retired, didn't he?

I don't think he fits for this. If someone didn't even exist last season.

He didn't play last year. But has he filed his paperwork? I'm just asking questions as one must. I'm sure he did. I think we talked about it. I think you're right. Big Boned Randy is out there. Oh, yeah.

We have a special feeling for him.

There's a bond with Big Boned. I don't like him as a kicker.

Well.

And his Zabhteg figure, I like. I relate to it. I feel like it's something he battles, but he also has now been kicking for about 10 years. He's getting the full pension. This is a way to say, You've battled through a lot of adversity. Come on in.

Like your other options are like what Brett Maher. I'm with you. Fat Randy has been or Randy Pollet.

That's what the nickname was.

I didn't come up with that.

Back in the day. Not on our show. To be fair, he's slimmed down. He's gone up and down over the years.

Now that I'll have to see him in the hallways inside the team complex, I would probably shy away from calling him then.

It's also a connection to Chris-Probably should. Chris Westling.

What's up, fat Randy?

I feel like he had a lot of opinions about Randy Bullock back in the day. Who was?

Yeah, he got a kick out of his figure. He's Rubenesque. I like that. That's good. I think it's important for our team to embrace all body types as well. It's a good message to send. Body inclusive is a big thing now. So welcome, Randy. All right, punter, punter, punter.

I don't know about you guys, but I was literally looking for punters. At some point, the search stopped.

As far as I can tell, there is not a punter who punted the ball in the NFL last year that is a free agent that is over 30. Yeah, but how about this?

We don't punt.I did the research. We don't punt. You could get fans involved with that one.

I could be searching it wrong, but I don't think so. I don't think there is an available punter. I have an idea. That had a punt. Presley Harvin, again, body diversity inclusive, but he's quite young. The Steelers cut him. But if you go to like, Spot Track over the Cap, all these sites, they don't list one of these punters.

There is not a punter.

I'll throw one out there. Sean Lendetta.

Okay.

What did I literally write on my screen? What? Are you serious? Sean Lendetta, who's 62.

Okay, let's go.

Dan, that's how legends are made when you're team building. We both have Sean Lendetta down before the show.

This is why I was pointing out to Mark last week that it was tough for him when Dan's out of the state.

Sean Lendetta, 62.

We both thought of Sean Lendetta somewhere. Papi is smiling on the brown couch, drinking his root beer, not talking to me. All right, Sean Lendetta. Welcome to the Greybeards. Hopefully, he's staying in shape. All right, offensive line.

We'll keep an eye on the waiver wire in case anyone loses a job in camp elsewhere.

I'm going to throw out just what I projected the line, and if you guys want to replace anyone, I'm totally open to it. Right tackle, Billy Turner, right guard, Cody White hair, center, Connor Williams, left guard, DJ Fluker, and bringing in David Bacriari, who's a perfect gray beard at left tackle.

I had back Tiari, Connor Williams as well.

Well, Connor Williams is 27.

Yeah, I know.

That's why... Wait, hang on. He's young. Hold on. Okay, get rid of Connor.

Yeah, he's 26.

I thought he was...

I'm thinking... No, hold on.

There's multiple Conor and McGovern.

Conor McGovern is only 30.

I like to avoid anybody that's played offensive line for the New York Jets in the last three years.

Because I actually had Laken Tomlinson maybe as one of my guards. The tackle position might be the best on the roster. I take it back from the receiver. Andrews Pete played quite well late last season at left tackle for the Saint.Typically a guard, but yeah. Typically a guard. So you could play him at guard or tackle, but I'm a little surprised he still had there. And then Donovan Smith, he wasn't lightening it up, but he did start for the Super Bowl champs in most of the season. He stepped in for it. He was okay. No, he was there all year.

Oh, yeah, right. I'm thinking of a right tackle.

Yeah, he left. He was injured, and then he came back. So who did you have as your left tackle before? I had back to-Bacri is good, though.

I like that, too. That's a name brand.

People like, they want to know what's next in his journey.

I think it's the draft that's keeping these guys out there because compared to other positions, I was like, a number... Charles Lena was another another one. I was like, A number of these guys could actually play meaningful NFL snaps in the fall, and I don't see that at many positions, where there is five or six tackles.

Do we want to kick Donovan Smith to write tackle?

I think it's that type of versatility that we're looking for.

Who we put in the pivot?

I guess Bacriari, but he hasn't stayed healthy too often.

Bro, pivot center.

I think Connor McGovern.

You got to get in the terminology if you're going to be a true front office head.

Connor McGovern was the PFF's 33rd ranked center.

The pivot I wasn't listening as closely as I should have.

Lucas Patrick.

One of my favorite tropes of people talking ball. How about pivot? Who's in the pivot?

Okay, let's put Pete in at guard. We got Bocchiari and Donovan Smith at tackle.

Yeah, Fluker is gone.

All right, so I'll put in just Pete. These guys.

Cody right there you had. I like that.

Cody at right guard. And then who's in the pivot?

There weren't many.

I think Connor McGovern. All right. He's 30 years old.

I looked at Lucas Patrick. I looked at a man Tyler Shatley, just for the name.

We clearly were-The quarterback is going to be Shatleying his pants when he ends up behind these guys. We were clearly sifting through the same software.

Justin Pew was a man who had some social media excitement last year for the Giants when he said he was straight off the couch as the team that he played for on Sunday Night Football, I believe. So that was exciting.

All right, let's move off the line before people fall asleep. All right, how about the defensive line? Who are we putting on the edge?

I'm excited to get Jerry Hughes on the team.We're.

Playing three, four, or four, three.Finaly..

I would say we are... You could go four, three here if you wanted to. Yeah, I think four, three. I think so, too. Emmanuel Agba is still out there?

Yeah, I think Jerry Hughes, Emmanuel Agba. Bud Dupre? It was in a weird system. Our friend Henry Hudson pushed back on me a little bit that I had Agba in my top 101 when Xavier and Howard wasn't there. I'm just like, Agba always used to be good, and then he didn't really fit in the fan geo scheme, maybe. Melvin Ingram is never disappointed when he signs with the team halfway through the season.

Justin Houston?

Somehow unique-Graybeard last year. Somehow unique, and Gaqo is not old enough to qualify still, yet he's been in the NFL for 73 seasons.

Who's putting their hand in the dirt?

Well, both the edge rushers. Yeah.

I'm trying to use terminology. Who are the D tackles?

Cleos Campbell.

Yeah. Oh, that's a great one. 38. Oh, that will alleviate my concerns about Michael Thomas because Campbell will keep that lockerer in the line.

He'll keep him in mind.

Well, I think we haven't gotten to our coaching staff, but there's some pretty good names available that I think could really keep the discipline on this.

Did Dominic Su retire?

He's doing British television.

He did not get a job this year.

Is he still spending summers with Lee Iacoca on the plant? The assembly line?

Lawrence guy who-Larry Guy, okay.famously made the all-decade's team for the Patriots in the 2010s somehow.

William Goldston is out there.

Jordan Phillips. I'm going to go Campbell and guy as my pick of defensive tackle, but it's not a strong group.

Yeah, I didn't have a long list. I think Campbell will help make up the weakness of the other candidate.

All right, linebackers.

Anthony Barr.

Barr was there last year.

You've got...

Zack Cunningham came in and played some snaps. Kwan Alexander. It's not a strong...

I like Kwan there.Position.Nic Vigil.

It's a bunch of guys who keep getting signed late in the mix, and they fill in. I think the linebacker is making a comeback in the NFL, if a team is realizing that they're important and the lack of names available might spell that out here.

All right, so let's go Barr Alexander. Give us one more. Cunningham.

Jack Leonard is too young for this.He's.

Not with theBarely, though.

I've lost many, many... Shaq Leonard has not turned 28 this year?

Oh, we're doing this with all positions. You're right.

I take that back. You're right. All right, this is where I've lost many seasons is in the secondary.We are too slow.I.

Don't hate this group.

It's ironic, whereas I think I keep saying it, now this is the strength of our team. I think the secondary is-How could that be? How could there be-I don't know why.impact.

Makers in the-It could be a draft related to.

There's a couple of guys in their 30, 31. You got Stefan Gilmore out there.

Stefan Gilmore and Steven Nelson are two guys who played. Steven Nelson was a lower level, but played starting cornerback at a pretty high level last year.

I love Gilmore. Savian Howard. You need three corners, right?

Oh, yeah. Okay. Who are we playing in the slot?

Well, they're all so experienced that we can put Howard in the slot. Create all sorts of strategic chaos for the We put Gilmore on an island and say, Good luck.

One more year. One more ride, son. Yeah.

Just leave on an island. These are some reasonable players, though. By the way, Adory Jackson does not qualify, but he's a reasonable player.

Whenever you could leave a 32-year-old cornerback on an island. Got to do it.

For 60 minutes. In today's end of the-Got to do it. But you know what?

I want to play a lot of zone because of their age and also because we've got good safety. The safety position is strong.

That's always flush on this exercise.

Justin Simmons. Jesus, Gilmore is 33. A recent All-Pro Justin Simmons.

Gilmore is turning 34 in September by week two. But he was playing well. All right, yeah, we're definitely playing zone.

It's still a quality player I mean, look, it's the NFL or wherever we play in 2024.We.

Got to be different.We're going to mix it up. We got to mix it up.

The scheme is fluid. It's not the old days. Scheme's fluid. Don't try to put us in a box.

If they join a team in real life and get hurt in real life, does it affect their health?

Tell me this safety group isn't better than some NFL teams. Justin Simmons, Quandre Diggs, J Ron Kirst, and either Micah Hyde or Tashaun Gibson. Hyde might be retiring.

How many roster spots we have for safety? I don't know. I just usually do two.

Let's go three because we're going to play... Again, we're trying to be-We're mixing a match. We're playing a three safety defense sometimes. Let me try to see the 12 guys. The linebacker The trackers are so bad. I want to play one line back there.

We play a 4-1.

I'm going to do a little sneaky, get a 12 on the field move, see if anybody catches it.

I just think I want to play. We don't have a lot of speed. Like, Diquandre, get out That usually works. We don't have a lot of speed. I just want to prevent the big play. I'm going to play six defensive backs at all times. Six DBs. Yeah.just like the umbrella.Try to let them.

I like that.

Let them complete five-year-old.

Keep the rain showers off us.

It's like 18-year-old screen pass after 20-year-old Screen Pass after 16-year-old Screen Pass.

These are guys that were in my 101 or close.Who's our third seed?Diggs.

Simmons Diggs.

Let's go J. Ron Curse. Good player.

All right. Head Coach.

There's only one choice.

Go ahead.

I mean, do I have to say? He was writing a book right now. He was wearing a University of Washington, or is it Washington University sweatshirt this weekend, giving people in the Pacific Northwest just the feels, I think, because he was with his son, Steve Belichick, at a Washington coaches clinic.

Did you watch the game on Monday? Bill Belichick is our head coach. Hell, yeah. I know that that doesn't mean a lot in the modern league anymore. But for The Greybeards, there's never been a more perfect synergy of a man who's been counted out because of his age. Tell me anything else. Belichick is the bell of the ball if he's 62 instead of 72. He has been counted out because people say the game has passed him by. The Greybeards are here to prove.

Everyone wrong. When we talk about a violent coup d'État in terms of a hiring cycle, this would be it because this is someone who could go break Don Shula's record as the coach of the Greybeards.

That'd be good.

That's pretty good. I'm going to say these two men, although they seem like they wouldn't be a good fit, they have actually, if I'm not mistaken, been on the same staff together. It is a man who famously said he didn't come to kiss Bill Belichick's rings, but I like pairing Bill with Rex Ryan. Oh, wow. Absolutely. The Rex is DC. Bill is the head coach. It's Bill's defense, obviously, but it's Rex there. Rex famously cooked up Bill in the 2010 AFC divisional playoffs. They can work together and make magic.

I mean, you talk about the team programs and stuff. We've got Rex Ryan and Bill Belichick joining forces Was he on the Patriot staff?

Rob Ryan. Rex never... Oh.not Rex.

He was on the Raven staff.

Okay. Maybe Bill might veto that. I'm going to do what other people were unwilling to do, I'm going to give Bill the final call. If Bill isn't comfortable with that.

Yeah, I thought you were going somewhere else with this, and I like the idea of, first of all, this is the roster Bill's always wanted, just a bunch of hard-nosed, intelligent players, old, slow, smart. Bunch of progress stoppers. He likes that in the NFL. He's going to like it on the. I think give a little sugar with all the sourness that Bill gives you and bring in Pete Carroll. Those are two of the greatest defense of mine.

That's a good call.

Just to pump everyone I'm so freaking Jack.

Can we only have two coaches? We got a multiple coaches.

I think that's the play. As much as I love Rex, I think Bill replaced Carroll, didn't he? Once upon a time in New England? He did.

That was an ageism type thing, too. The Pete Carroll thing. Exactly.

I think he's a perfect fit. Dc, Carroll, head coach Bill. I think we got to give Frank Signetti another chance at OC. I think Frank deserves it. How old's Frank? Got to be over...

He's 56, I think. Hold on.

Frank's Okay, let's see, Frank. How old is Frank?

Yeah, he's turning 58. 58.

Yeah, let's get him because he got bounced by the Pit Panthers.

Right, and that never felt fair.

They said he wasn't good enough. Probably ages him. Looking back, probably ages him.

I think so.

Then, of course, special teams coach always and forever, Mike Westoff. He trashed. No, he didn't trash Belichick. He was on our show and was annoyed that we were asking him questions he didn't want to talk about. Westoff trashed Parcells in his book, which Belichick is going to love. They're going to, and they once upon a time, coach together on the jet. This is an incredible staff. Belichick, Carroll Westoff, Signetti.

Let's go. Just to get the gang back together because you don't hear about him much lately. Let's bring in Charlie Weis as a consultant. Get him in there. Remember Charlie? Consultant. Good times. Hard to forget Tom Bright. Get him in the building. He's not that old, actually. 6, 68 years old. Charlie Weiss. His son is the offensive coordinator for-I'm just going to put in captions here.Lane Kiffin's old miss team. How about that?

I'm going to put in captions here. Get him in the building.

The coaching staff really changes my opinion on this team because before I learned about the coaching staff or thought about it, I was going to predict 0-17. I did not think this team was winning a ball game.

Not a single game. You're telling me Tanne Hill can't get hot. The defense can't get some stops.

When did they go a year ago? What was the...

I predicted 6-11, and they went 4-30.

They won four games with Carson Wentz.

I believe I predicted they were going to go 1-16 or 2-15 last year. This team seems worse, but actually, after talking through it, it's a little better than I thought.

I think 5 and 12.

We got to keep Tana healthy no matter what.

We got to keep Weiss healthy as well.

Weiss. Yeah.

I'm going to put this coaching staff and the chips on the shoulders. I'm I'm going to predict 9 and 8.

That is insane.

Because of the coaching staff, I think you put in an average coaching staff, it'd be 0 and 17.I think Bill coaches this week.That's.

So messed up. How many?It.

Does a great job.

We went through all these position groups I'm like, Oh, this is a great group. This is a really good group. We're not going to steal a win with a basic coaching staff like that.

I think it's fair to these. Well, there's just a couple of position groups.

That betrays the very nature of the exercise, Greg. We're not nihilists here with the Greybeards.We believe in these guys.Just.

Trying to be realistic.

I'd say it's maybe the best secondary the Greybeards have ever had. That was killing them.It's.

A great secondary.It's.

A year or two years ago.

I don't know where we're getting pressure. I think they're picking on our linebackers. The protection, we'll see. But if they can't keep Tana Hill healthy, we're in trouble.

We're in trouble. That is everything starts there. Suddenly, it's Zeke 27. We haven't had a consistent pass rusher, by the way, since John Abraham. No.

All right. Because of the coaching staff, I think it's a magical season season, and they coach him up to six wins. He gets Coach of the Year votes getting those six.

Team of ATN?

I do that today.

All right, there you go. That is the Greybeards of 2024. Jeez, Tannehill. Ice that ankle, bud. Ice them both. Get in the hyperbaric chamber until training camp. That's what we need. Health at the QB position. I think we steal a lot of wins. All right, we'll take a break, and then we'll close things out.

How big. I'm so hungry. We need your help. We need this.

Come on, Greg. We are in the future. Will you be my dad?

We need your help, Greg.

Can I trust you?

Hey, Doug. We must listen to Delaware. Do it for us.

We need your help, Greg. I'll get. We love Delaware. We really need to listen to Delaware. It's up to you.

Wow.

First of all, adorable.

Yeah.

Those are all of our children. I think it was Walker in there? No, your kids were not involved. I texted your wife, she didn't reply.

I believe mine were, but I'm not certain about that.

No, you didn't hear? I heard Luke and Colton in there.

I went in thinking it was just your two, so I'd have to listen again. Really? Yeah, but that was a long time ago, so their voices have changed.

Many years have passed. Am I on a podcast? There's Walker. Many years have passed since Greg, we first have asked about the tapes, the Delaware tape. By the way, this isn't an ambush, so don't worry. But developing news. I don't know. When you went away on vacation, there may have been some conversation about reopening the investigation for the tapes. Okay. I want to tell you that we are in possession of the tapes now.

Wow. That is an ambush.

But I'm not playing the tapes, and I haven't listened to them either.

You're going to be disappointed.

But I have the tapes. We put a call out.

Yeah, call to arms. People responded.

Call to arms. I don't want to give up my source here, but we're in possession of the tapes. Now, I want to just cycle back, Greg. I want you to think about this I know your first instinct is going to say, F you. They stay in the vault. We never hear them. But those children that you heard-Better for the bit. Those children that you heard were begging for it, begging. It reminded me why that existed in the first place, which was the idea that if we can put together some type of charitable donation, and the listeners could get involved as well as Mark and I will as well, toward Greg's charity of choice, the Food Bank of Santa Monica.

Right, sure. That would be appropriate.

In exchange for giving us access to a listening session, a one-time listening session of Delaware I'm going to, again, put that out there to you, Greg. Now that we have the tapes out of respect for you as a friend, I would never just ambush you and play the tapes. But we do have the tapes now. Now it's just a matter of you agreeing freeing and giving the listeners. The reason it came up while you were away is people have been constantly hitting us up about this for years.

Constantly would be the right word there.

Where are the tapes? The Delaware tapes. Come on, Greg. The fact that now we do have the tapes, it is fully the ball is in your court to give the... It's really twofold. Give the listeners what they've been clamoring for for a decade, and two, to actually help people in need via a donation to charity.

You We also could factor in the potential outcome that Dan and Mark cannot find a tape player anywhere. That's the second part of this mission.

It's an Mp3 file, don't worry. Okay. We're set there.

I don't believe you that you haven't listened. Wow.i promise you.I do believe you, but I'm surprised.I.

Was in Hawaii. It was the wrong words for it. We put the call out and immediately heard back from Parties Connected in West Massachusetts.

Oh, right. It was lightning quick.

I mean, it is an embush. It's quite a It's going to be-You want to think on it?

We don't need an answer.

It's going to be disappointing to hear the 45-second joke songs over a tape recorder that were made with us in a piano.

No, it will not be disappointing.

But maybe it will be disappointing, or as Mark points out, rightly, probably not going to be disappointing. Because he did this story. I shouldn't even say he. This person, this individual, even gave me some background information.

I know who it is. How would I not know who it is? I don't know.

What do you mean? We don't know what you know.

There is only one person who would have kept everything Everything kept a record, kept everything going.

Well, they betrayed you.

Start right there. Sure, he wouldn't look at it like that.

Are you upset with me or this individual?

No, I can't be upset. That you just dug it up. Finally, it happened.

If you know who this is, he has a a funny little story also about your time together in high school working at the local newspaper.

It was not the It was our local newspaper, but it was our school newspaper in which we were co-sports editors for a hot minute, and then I just bailed on it and left him to do all the work.

He hints at that, but the email I was sent by this source was very jovial in nature. Oh, yeah. I don't believe there to be, and Mark, I haven't shared this with you either, any bad intentions. It was more, Oh, do you want this? Here it is. Now, Greg has a big decision to make, and I wouldn't betray you and your privacy if you want to keep the past in the past. But just letting you know that it's out there. That's a major score, by the way, by the Zuzer as a journalist. To, after years of looking, to find the tapes, and now it is in your hands. You tell us if you're open to the idea of a donation to bring the tapes forth. Perhaps we play them at our remote podcast at The Strand in about a month. I think that would be a listening party, if you will. These are all just ideas.

Greg, sleep on it multiple times. Just stretch this out. Let's really build up to that live show.

That's a good idea. That's, yes, what great journalism work by you, Dan, to read the tweet that was sent to you.

Okay, so don't hit out at me instead of doing my job.

I actually do remember when Jeff sent a similar one seven or eight years ago. It might have been over Facebook or something like that, and just everyone ignored him, and I was like, okay.

Well, the investigation took on your legs from it.

It was even brought up on this show as many years ago, maybe 10 years ago.The.

Investigation has been completed.You see what he's doing? Yeah,it has been completed. Now it shifts to decision time. In this decision year for our country, a pivotal election coming up, it is Greg now that first has the pivotal decision.

For new listeners, yeah, it was a band I was in, Jokey Band. We didn't really play shows other than, I think, our school's talent show a few times. We had some songs, we had some tapes.

The call was put out there, and My source, a listener, tracked down the source on social media to let him know that the call was out.

All the President's Men 2.0. Unbelievable.

All right, so there you go. Let us know. We want to hear your debut album. How do you want it cooked? We're interested in maybe shiny man went to Frogtown.

Was that second? That was second.

I don't know. All right. We'll be back on Wednesday. I mean, what a bombshell. You get the tension in the area. It's not even an unhealthy. I could feel Greg's gears turning like, Should I or shouldn't I? I can help people. All that stuff is happening in real-time right now.

Yeah.mark, it really is.It is a fascinating subplot to our lives.

As much as I am loathe to help people, it's a tough decision.

All right, well, you just try to sleep with it if you can. Until then, we'll maybe get an answer in the hopefully near future. We'll be back Wednesday, another episode of Around the NFL. Until then. He's the call.