What's up everybody? What's going on?
Welcome to unleashed Boy, we got a lot to hit.
Obviously a wild football weekend.
You know, I got at least go back to Friday night because I'm
sitting there saying, all right now, not that I really expected
this to happen, but I'm sitting there saying if everything goes
to according to a certain script, this could be a home run
night for The Jets and then I'll get into the weekend stuff.
But here just from Friday night from the college, right, That's
the first thing that happened. Absolute worst case scenario for
The Jets. It's not even close.
Like, if you look at the options, and I talked about this
on Thursday and Friday, like the possibilities of what could
happen on Friday with Indiana and Oregon, there were a couple.
There was at least three, maybe a fourth one.
And I was kind of run through it again, where The Jets would have
absolutely benefited tremendously coming to the draft
with Mendoza, with Moore, with the Raiders and making them
think and everything. So the first situation was, and
we knew that this was going to happen, Mendoza balls out and
Dante Moore balls out. Wow.
All right, So you got the kid who's a little bit younger, a
little less experienced, you know, his college close to where
the Raiders play. You know, Mendoza balls out, but
more balls out. That's something that could be
advantageous to The Jets because maybe it gives the Raiders
something to think about. That didn't happen.
The other thing that would have been advantageous because I was
so sold on Mendoza, I even said if Mendoza went like 11 for 19
with three picks and a fumble and the Indiana Hoosier got
absolutely bludgeoned and Oregon won, I would still take Mendoza
over. Like there was nothing in that
game that would have sent me a signal to reevaluate how I view
the quarterback spot pertaining for what I wanted The Jets to
do. So if Mendoza would have
stumbled again, The first one they both pull out, that didn't
happen. The next one, if Mendoza would
have played poorly and more would have shined, well.
Now, it still doesn't mean guaranteed that the Raiders
would have said, OK, that's enough evidence here, we're
going to take more pass on Mendoza.
But again, it would have complicated their analysis.
And when that happens, you never know whether it's a David, I
know Brady's there. So that's probably going to lead
to sensibility and never work out for The Jets anyway because
they actually have a real football person there instead of
Dopey Davis doing whatever he does.
But that situation didn't happen.
Now here's the other thing I would have even taken this
situation. Mendoza plays amazing, like,
which he did, and Moore plays OK, OK, but Oregon somehow wins,
Oregon advances, and then Moore balls out against Miami while
Mendoza's home. And that also would have given
the Raiders something to think about.
Instead, what we have is the absolute worst situation where,
you know, first play from scrimmage, Moore throws a pick
six, then throws it through for 9000.
Then Mendoza had more touchdowns, then he had
incompletion. So there's no doubt, guys, who
the absolute best player is, and there was no doubt for me going
in. But at least there was a couple
of possibilities like, all right, maybe this could happen
and this could open up this area of dialogue and maybe this could
happen. So we're at a situation now,
right where it's pretty much worst case for The Jets.
There's no clear cut third quarterback.
Obviously Mendoza's obviously going to the Raiders.
Now, I still do think that there's a chance that more comes
out, You know, whether or not he tries to avoid going to The
Jets. I, I pull some Peyton Manning, I
don't really know how that's going to happen or what's going
to go down there. I don't, I don't know.
We'll find out. But I think that the like any
leverage, anything that could have transpired that was very
favorable for The Jets the other night, obviously went the other
direction, went the wrong way and there's nothing you can do
about it. The only thing that you could
do, maybe the only other option would be at this point is if
more does come out and, you know, if I had to handicap it,
maybe 30%, you know, whatever, the nil money changes
everything. So if he's on the fence, which I
know he is, you know, 1011 million bucks, boom, you go back
to school. The problem for more is that
next year's draft crop is thought to be much better, much
better than this year. So, you know, now he's got to
weigh the merits. And this is a very tough
decision because it has ruined a lot of people over the years
where if he goes to the NFL, even though it was a year or
he's a he's, even though he's young and he's only 20 and he's
got to put on some real functional weight.
He barely weighs over £200. The kid has a lot of talent.
I like Dante Moore, but I don't know how The Jets justify taking
him a 2, if he even does come out.
So maybe maybe you, if he, you know, has a great combine
interviews, well, which I would imagine that he will, maybe he
still does come out. The Jets aren't sold.
The Jets trade out the Cardinals, whoever The Jets get
a stopgap for for next season. And maybe it goes that way.
Maybe. But I mean, you know, you, you
sit down, the game's over before it, even before you even settle
into your spot on the couch, the game's over, it's over.
And there's just really nothing. Like there was no intrigue in
that game. Every single thing that you were
hoping for from a Jets perspective, why in the world
could something not go our way? I don't know.
I don't understand. It doesn't matter.
And always listen. I could lament and I could
scream as loud as I want. You know, it's not going to
change anything. The script that needed to happen
for The Jets simply did not happen.
The Jets did not get lucky. So now The Jets need to create
their own fortune. You know, they've got to get a
little lucky with the things that they can't control.
More coming out, whatever. And then somebody behind them
falling in love with Dante Moore and then trading up.
And then listen, I'd be OK with this because even if Dante Moore
played better and, and again, if he played great, that's
different. That's a different calculus.
If he played better than he did, which was not good, but better
instead of awful, well, you know, maybe you start to say,
well, you know, you got a pretty good old line.
You find the second receiver opposite Garrett Wilson, a big
body, 63, whatever, 5050 ball, big radius kind of guy.
And then you could kind of talk yourself into drafting Dante
mort #2. I can't do that right now
because I don't I don't trust The Jets ability to develop him
and coach him up and I also don't think he's seasoned enough
yet. And and that's just the obvious
part of it where I'm willing to roll the dice now somebody else
might be and if that's what they want to do, I'm open for
business. I'll build out the roster.
I'll get the linebacker, I'll get the edge rusher, I'll get
the safety, I'll get the corner, I'll get one more one more old
lineman and I'll say that draft capital for next year.
And I'll, you know, I'll see what's going on with Kyler
Murray. I'll see what's going on with
Kirk Cousins. You know all the names at this
point. So that was a very, very
disheartening start to the weekend.
Nothing you can do about it. You got to move on.
And as we move on and by the way, I'll obviously take
questions here. BT unleashed hit me up on on the
on the on the live function here and I will respond in real time.
Still not up on YouTube. Nothing I could do about it.
So instead of crying like a baby got a plow ahead.
Do what I could do control what I can control.
Talk about the show. What's driving me nuts that
we're still not on YouTube, but there's really nothing that I
could do right now. So I'm not going to waste a lot
of time with that. All right now you get to the
weekend. First of all, rather than
starting in sequence, I'm not going to run through every game
here. I want to cherry pick couple
things I don't want to hear about Justin Herbert anymore.
Being a star enough with the Justin Herbert praise done
enough interested doesn't deserve it.
It's no longer with Merritt. He is O and three in the
playoffs, right? The first playoff game his team
was up 27 zip and they lose. Now that's also on coaching.
That's also on the defense. But there were plays within
that, that sequence where you make one first down, you make
one better throw, you're going to win the game.
So 27 zip collapse is on his resume #1 then the next game,
the next year in this isn't. This is sequentially, by the
way. So 27 zip epic collapse.
Not good. All right, young Chargers just
thought trying to figure things out.
Last year, 4 picks against the Houston Texans, 4.
Like, imagine I'll get to that in a second.
And then last night you score 3 points, you scored three points.
I mean, I know it was windy. It was also a little windy in
Philly. And I saw a Purdy make a couple
of play. I don't want to hear about the
weather. It was not 5 inches of snow.
You know, it wasn't raining enough.
Get your team at the end zone 3 points.
I mean, and if you watch the game, which you did, how many
throws were there where Herbert was either like, and I know his
old lines not that good. I get that.
I know a couple of Keenan Allen drop one.
I know that as well. But when you're the quarterback
and you're a top 10 pick, whatever he was, I forget where
he went exactly, but highly drafted, right?
And I think more importantly, when you're positioned and
people just kind of rotely say that they're like, well, you
know Mahomes and Josh Allen and you know Burrow and you know
Herbert, No, no, her, I don't want to hear it.
Herbert's not in that category doesn't deserve it.
There's no way Imagine I'm giants fans, right?
So imagine if Eli's first place instead of instead of going 2
for two. Now they're also with Eli and
we've talked about this not to run down his career.
Now I'm not going to do that now, but just across the bridge
to get to another point. Imagine Eli who went 2 for two
with two Super Bowls and two great runs, many Rd. wins
flawless play MVP twice in the Super Bowl.
Imagine if Eli's first playoff game was a giant he and
Coughlin, they flushed down a 27 zip believe and they lose the
game right number one. And then the next game and
again, still young Eli still feel his way out and still feel
his way around. Then the next game, Eli not 1,
not 2, not 3-4 interceptions lost you going home.
And then the next game when you're an 11 win regular season
team, you, you score 3 points, 33.
I don't want to hear it. Like to me, like there are, it's
funny how this works. It's actually really funny.
There are certain players who for whatever reason get unfairly
knocked, you know, and I'm just like locally off the top of my
head, although I I believe there's merit to some of it.
You want to tell me Alonzo has been treated a little bit
unfairly baseball in the court of public opinion where we kind
of fixate on on the flaws when he was here rather than what he
does really well. Or maybe even Lindor.
Lindor to a lesser extent, or even Judge, who is the best I've
ever seen. All these MVPS, 1100 OPS, 60
bombs every year basically. But because the Yankees don't
win, you know, in a sport where one player can't truly change
the outcome, like baseball, Judge is maybe unfairly
criticized and, you know, feels that vitriol from certain fans.
That's like that's one aspect. And then there's the other end
of the of the equation, the other side of the coin, where
certain guys, no matter what they do, for whatever reason,
maybe it's the market they play playing.
Maybe it's a win, which now the charger, you think the charger
fans are calling up LA talk radio today blasting Herbert and
horrible. Do you really think that that's
going on? That's not happening.
All right, so that's probably part of it.
Maybe he he's got a fairly benign personality, so he
doesn't really invite that criticism.
But it's amazing how year after year after year, Herbert is
thought to be one of the best quarterbacks in football.
And year after year after year, that's nothing.
So I mean, come on, guys, can we finally position him where he
is? He's good and that's about it.
But at this point, he's had a wildly disappointing NFL career.
Like, I know, I know just talking about Mendoza more, if
there's anybody that would take 27 touchdowns, 13 picks, which
is what he had in the regular season and playoff, you know,
flame outs, it's probably a Jet fan because that would at least
represent progress. But even when you get to the to
that point, like with Sanchez, right?
And even going back in the day with Todd and some of those
other guys right there, there's still a point where, you know, I
don't care how thirsty you are for success or championship or,
you know, sustained success where you go to the playoffs 2
years in a row. Whoa, eventually that gets old
and that gets tiring, right? So the criticism is going to
come. So while initially it would be
good, imagine if The Jets quarterback was doing that like
I I can't imagine. I can't I I honestly can't
imagine what I would be saying about somebody that the jet
Strat that a couple of years ago if last night put up three
points, especially if it was against the Patriots, put up
three points in the playoff game, sent back in and then, Oh
yeah, by the way, last year 4 picks.
It's just it really is interesting how there's like
this selective pouncing on certain players.
Don't get it, don't agree with it.
But Herbert was awful last night and I don't want to hear him
throwing in the same category with the superstars, let alone
even the guys who are maybe a cut below the superstars but win
a whole lot more like champion hurts and guys like that.
All right, so now, now you get the Super wild card weekend in
totality. It was absolutely awesome the
first three games. The team that with this is an
amazing stat that they put up during the during the Niners
game yesterday, Niners Philly, right.
And that game was obviously still in the balance.
Wild finish. A.J.
Brown, Siriani yelling at each other, A.J.
Brown, the ridiculous drop. I mean, who knows if they're
going to fire Siriani got big problems up there or down there
from where I am in Philly. So we'll see how they resolve
that. It took the Dolphins a day or
two to resign themselves to moving on for McDaniels.
I don't know, maybe Philly moves swiftly.
That was not a good look. That was a pretty bad
performance. Any you know, especially against
the Niners team that lost Kittle.
But during the game they put up the stat the first 3 Super Wild
card games, the team that was trailing with two minutes to go
in the game. One, are you kidding me?
You want to talk about a wild script?
Now? I made the picks on Friday here
on Unleashed right? And I thought for sure, and I
was wrong. I'll admit this.
You'll get that on the show. Unlike a lot of other shows,
when they're wrong, they just kind of ignore it.
I will be wrong and I will circle back to it and admit it
if I have to and reference it if I have to, which I'm doing right
now. So I thought the Rams would
squash the Panthers. I really did.
I, you know, I, I remember saying I didn't think there'd be
late Carolina money coming in. So, you know, at 10 1/2 on
Friday, all you want to probably do is shave that down a half a
point. Worse you going to do is a push.
I'm thinking maybe 30-10, you know, 20 to 7.
That's kind of what I'm 23 to 2713.
That's what I was thinking, Right?
No, I was absolutely stunned at the way that game was an awesome
game. The fans were great.
That's the importance of winning the division.
And, you know, here we are. We're off to a very, you know, a
rousing start, a surprising start.
What are you going to do? And then you move into the Bears
game, 21 to 3 at the half now. Wow.
All right, So the Bears had not beaten the Packers in a playoff
game since the Sunday after we got attacked in Pearl Harbor
World War 2. That's the last time that the
Bears beat the Packers in the playoffs.
Stunning stuff. Now that throw, Caleb Williams
made a lot of throws. That throw that he made on 4th
down where he rolled out to his left off 1 foot and dropped it
with touch and distance off off 1 foot was really one of the
best throws I've ever seen under duress given the moment.
And that's not hyperbole. Like Eli had a couple of great
throws. Obviously there's been a lot of
great throws in playoff lore, but the difficulty, the degree
of difficulty now, if it was one-on-one and just had a, you
know, throw it over the top, that's hard enough rolling out
your flush, you're off 1 foot. Boom.
He had a there were at least three Packers, I think it was 4.
Like, so we had to throw it perfect, like over the frontline
in front of the second line. Perfection.
Wow. And then you sitting there and
of course, you know, Ben Johnson, you know, listen, the
one thing that that I don't mind that much, and I know a lot of
people get wrapped up in this, like why is everybody so
consumed what a coach says to their team in the locker room?
This is one of the problems, right, with social media and
having cameras everywhere. So Ben Johnson, all right,
caught up in first of all, the handshake was a little
classless. I think you got to do a better
job than that. When you when I know you're
pumped up, I know it. I know you've got this energy
that surging through your body and you feel like you can run
through titanium steel because that's the the high that you're
on. But you're a coach, you're the
leader. You're the visible face of the
franchise. You got to do a better job than
that kind of handshake. You have to do a better job on
that. So if I'm going to criticize Ben
Johnson for anything, it would be that like you can't do the
hit and run like the quick one and like it just it doesn't look
right. All right, That's where you got
to process it a little differently.
Give the guy 10 seconds before he gets to midfield, let him
celebrate, shake the hands like a big boy and then get in the
locker room and say whatever the hell you want to say.
And like, think about this. So Ben Johnson, I know Ben
Johnson's had a few flare ups with the media, whatever.
I'd rather have a guy with an edge and A and a little bit of
whatever than a guy would absolutely nothing who's stoic,
who project. Give me Ben Johnson any day of
the week over the litany of coaches who just, you know,
recycle no emotion. I'll take that guy any day.
You know that. But to me, Ben Johnson, let me
get this straight, Ben Johnson's going to get criticized because
he said bleep the bleep the Packers F the Packers.
That's where we are in. I mean, are you kidding me, man?
Think about that rivalry and think about how one side just
gave you the stat. World War 2 is the last time the
Bears beat the Packers in a playoff game.
And this guy's not allowed to get to get all fired up with in
front of his guys where he thinks there's now you got to
know that there's cameras, I guess.
But it's just amazing how it it is amazing to me.
Here's the bottom line, how soft, and I have said this a
lot, how soft certain aspects of society has, but how really how
it's become. It's amazing to me, like, oh,
the fake outrage. The coach said a naughty word.
The coach cursed on. I mean, you'd think that it was
T-ball and he dropped nine F bombs because his team had a
walk off winning T-ball. I mean, give me a break, dude.
Get over yourself, you softies. Like if you're on Ben Johnson
for that, you are you, you, you. I'm talking to you, whoever you
are, and there's a lot of yous, all right, whoever you are, you
are more of a problem with society than an answer, then a
solution, then resolution be a break.
I mean, you know what it what goes into coaching football
from? I mean, first of all, you never
sleep. You're at the office all the
time. You sleep on a couch.
You're probably eating like a slob because you just inhaling
some fast food to get through the next tape session, right?
You're cutting off years of your life with the stress and the
pressure, the constant media updates of the job security.
And then you go to OTAs. You go to, you know, non
organized stuff, barely organized stuff, whatever the
terminology is. Then you get to the OTAs after
you navigate the draft and the pressures of free agency.
And then you go to camp. And I know it's not like it used
to be all the old timers say it and I get it.
But it's still it's still training camp, you know, where
you kind of sequestered for however long and it's just you
and your team and he trying to, you know, impart your your
vision to them and get them to buy in for a franchise that
doesn't want anything forever. And this guy's going to get
harpoon for dropping a few F all F the Packers.
Damn right. I'd say the same thing.
Like, imagine if Aaron Glenn, we should only be so lucky if you
know, last night beats the Patriots, right.
And Aaron says, you know who want to fly with them F and jet
something like that. After the couple of wins that
they had, which I like, I thought that was pretty good and
drops an F bomb in there and he throws the Patriots name in
there. I mean, I'd be like, that's my
guy, that is my leader, that is my coach, That's the dude that I
want leading my team. Everything else is just noise,
noise, really just noise I had no interest in engaging in.
And really at this point my life, I got no interest in
hearing. Get over it, right?
So the one thing that we learned this morning?
And this is about, I think I saw the story right, story right
around 9:00 before I went on the air.
Matt Lafleur. Now, there was a thought that,
and this obviously would have complicated possibly the giant
situation, which I'll get to in a minute more thoroughly.
They're going to retain him, which I think is the smart
thing. I think Lafleur is a really good
coach. I don't think he's got a great
team. I really don't.
I know there's a different standard out there in Green Bay.
I get that as well. And I know that, you know, his
contract is up after next year and, you know, their GM and and
their president of football operations has been on record.
He doesn't want a lame duck, which I agree with.
So they're going to sit down, talk contract, He'll be back.
It's a good fit. Hey, listen, I, I understand
that it's not perfect. I I get that.
But when you're 76 and 40, all right.
And as he 7640 and one, as he has, as he has done so far with
the Green Bay Packers and in six of the seven years you've been
there, you've made the playoffs. It's it's kind of hard to say
with any sort of, you know, merit that Lafleur should be
fired. So he won't be Now, you know,
you want to factor in a few other things like, and by the
way, if you disagree with that, I think there's enough evidence
where we could at least have the conversation.
You're up 21, three and a half. You got a young quarterback.
You got a young coach. You got to find a way to stick
him in stick. I mean, stick him in the
freezer, man. You got to find a way to win
that game. Admittedly, you have to find a
way to win that game, but you didn't.
All right? So you've got a choice at that
point. You got to get rid of somebody
who, you know, works pretty well in Green Bay.
The culture they win, they're always a playoff team.
There's no drama. And roll the dice on getting
better, but also in certain areas getting worse and
regressing. That's the real risk that you
run when you hire somebody to come in and replace somebody
who's done a good job, like the Ravens will do with Harbaugh and
some other spots as well. Yeah, like the Knicks with Tom
Thibodeau. That's that's that's a pretty
good example as well. So I get it.
That's a especially that you mix in the emotion of losing to a
division rival, even though the Packers have always been the
beneficiaries of of that relationship.
But yeah, I mean, I, I don't love the fact that they're most,
I think the last, what is it? The last last three, yeah, last
three years they've been a seven seed.
You know, you kind of just squeeze it in.
Their Lions had their moment. Bears had their moment this
year. Like you got to probably find a
way to do better than a seven seed so that games not in
Chicago. So maybe you get the occasional
buy be the top seed here. You know, I I I do like him and
I think that that's obviously good news that he will be
retained. And if you're John Horbaugh, how
do you not have interest in the Packers job?
You're a Midwest guy. It's one of the most revered
spots in all the sports and that would have been a highly
intriguing I I would think pursuit from their end and he
would I would think that he would have been very receptive
to it on his end. So that's not going to happen.
That's one less thing you got to worry about.
You know, and and by the way, just buzzing around the rest of
the weekend before I get a little bit more to the horrible
stuff. Read some of this stuff here as
well. And and even something on the
Yankees with the bell. We got a lot to do today.
I got a lot to do today the the game.
Let me see the where is it? OK, so was surprised by the Rams
score. I did pick the Bears to win.
I thought the Jaguars would win. Tough loss.
And by the way, I I love Josh Allen.
That also probably keeps McDermott around unless next
week is just gross and which I don't think it will be.
You would have to think Mcdermott's back if they lose
that game. That's a possible job opening
which maybe could have impacted horrible Stefanski.
Some of these other coaches obviously in demand.
I mean, you know, Philly, I mean, you, you, you've got to do
something. You've got it.
Philly. If that's it, like whether it's
Siriani, whether it's Brown, whether it's both, what I don't,
I don't know what the problem is there.
But when you look the way they've looked for so long this
year, you might just have to say, all right, you know, hey,
we captured a championship, we delivered it.
We'll always be thankful to the men who did that.
Obviously Saquon, obviously, and Saquon's not going anywhere.
Siriani, the quarterback. It just feels like it's time for
change there. Like there's there's just no
cohesion with the Eagles. I don't know.
I like even with all the speculation and and Harbaugh
coach there for, I want to say 8 or 9 years early in his career,
I have never seen Harbaugh once linked to the Eagles.
Now if there's an abrupt change soon and Siriani's out, I don't
know, is that something Harbaugh will be interested?
I'm not really sure. But you, you just can't ask for
a better weekend. The football, every game was
tight, you know, last night, even though last night, like the
aesthetics of last night's game was was awful.
You know, just talked about the Chargers doing nothing, 16,
three, the final. But even before that late
touchdown there, it was close, you know, so you're thinking,
OK, all right, you know, maybe here we go here.
So the football is absolutely off and running.
And now we get to what's going to be a transformative,
hopefully transformative week for the New York Giants.
Giants. The Giants have to get horrible,
and I'm not even saying that Horrible is the absolute clear
cut number one. I mean, he's he's right there.
I made my case for McCarthy. I like Stefanski a lot.
I don't know if I like him more than Horrible, but it's kind of
close. But why I say the Giants can't
mess this up? Think about the perception of
the New York Giants, right? The Giants, in a lot of ways,
guys and Giant fans hate when I say this, but this is the
reality of it. Until proven otherwise, the
Giants have an essence morphed into The Jets, and that is the
worst thing that you can say about any NFL team, especially
the one that was always the standard NFL team around here
and along with the Yankees, the Platinum Franchise.
So that's a big problem now they finally found their quarterback.
All right. So that that begins to get you
away from the vitriol because that's been a massive problem
for a long time. So, and not not by coincidence,
when you find the quarterback will now suddenly the
organization externally is viewed far more healthy than it
was. Now, if you think about the what
are their eight openings? So forget about the Ravens
opening. There could be more within the
next day or so, but right now there's 8.
Obviously, unless the Ravens pulled an all timer and brought
back Harbaugh, there's seven jobs you got to worry about.
So wherever for Harbaugh's perspective?
And I think there's really only three, maybe 4 to me, the top
three jobs, and I've really been saying this from day one.
I was saying this during the year with Sal, like I always
thought that the Giants opening was going to be incredibly
appealing. I know we can sit here and talk
about, you know, how, how ownership and, and things going.
And I don't even mean Mr. Mayor's health.
And, and that's totally separate.
And most important, God bless that man and we're all praying
for him. I'm separating that.
I'm putting that to the I'm not even talking about that.
Obviously from a football operations point of view, the
Giants have been a zero, an absolute 0.
But as I watched our play, I'm sitting there saying, okay, you
know, right away this becomes a much more appealing landing spot
for a real worthy coach rather than going the coordinator route
and try to convince somebody to come take your job.
The Giants just all they, they, they can't mess this up this
week. That's all there is to it.
Like there's certain times you got to sell you and they got to
sell themselves. But I mean, sell themselves
where you're almost, you have to, you have to hit a Grand Slam
in the presentation because you have nothing else really.
That's incredibly appealing to somebody who has won a ton, 61%
of his regular season games. That's horrible. 18 years, one
Super Bowl, that man's a winner, all right.
And if you know, his kicker hits a 45 yard field goal, you know,
to wrap up the regular season, guess what?
We're talking about Tomlin right now and not Horbaugh because
Horbaugh still has a job. Like that's the tenuous, unfair
nature of being a coach in modern pro sports.
Think about that. Like if that ball goes in,
Ravens are playing, Pittsburgh's done.
He's still coaching, Tomlin's probably out.
It's crazy. So I have always thought that
this in this coaching cycle, none of the last few, but in
this one, I really thought the Giants coaching job would be an
incredibly attracting destination.
I do think they're going to pay. There were stories over the
weekend that that that were refuting the thought that he
needed $20 million a year, full personnel power that that wasn't
refuted by him. But you know, some really well
sourced, reputable people put that out there.
So you got to believe it, right? So to me, you're looking at
these jobs and you know, Ravens aside pertaining to horrible
Giants, very appealing Falcons very appealing.
A lot of talent out there in Atlanta, pretty good place to
live, good weather, bad division, good stadium, good
owner. Like if the Giants, if the if,
if we're having the conversation this week, right?
That either the Giants didn't acquiesce on whatever demand
that I don't mean unrealistic demand, but when you're John
Harbaugh, you're coming in and you're telling them what you
want and they have to listen. That's it because you got the
hammer and you have the leverage and they're desperate.
Now could they pivot to Stefanski?
Sure. But as I've talked about the
risk and this is a really delicate threading here is that
like, if they don't get Harbaugh, and I know they've
already had their time with Stefanski, But as they as they
move to Harbaugh now this week, if Stefanski is either falling
in love with somebody else there or just not feeling that that
reciprocal love from the Giants because he feels and this is all
the we could say whatever we want, dude, get over it.
Big money's going to take care of that.
But if you're a human and you feel that a team suddenly is,
you know, going like emotionally and financially to somebody that
you think you're comparable to, even though you're a lot
younger, well, that's going to turn you off.
And the one thing the Giants can't do was I believe with it
with all my heart that all my heart, the Giants are walking
away with a hell of a head coach.
I've got no doubts about that. I really do.
And if they don't, the Giants will have colossal they they
will have colossally failed to a level that even I thought that
these current Giants did the Giant organization now was
incapable of like it's on a tee, man.
Find a way to get a horrible, find a way to get Stefanski,
find a way to get McCarthy. What?
Find a way to do it. So they're going to have their
coach not worried about that. I'm not, but I know that you
want horrible and I think the Giants for you need to deliver
you Horbaugh. That's it.
Like it's already been written, You know, flip on the radio, go
to X, go to social, go to your buddies, texts, everybody
horrible. As soon as Horbaugh got fired, I
got flooded by text messages from my buddies, most of whom
are actually Giant fans. And it was to a man, get that
guy. Whatever it takes, Harbaugh or
bust, this is the dude. So that's been the narrative.
It is now up to the New York Giants to make sure that that
narrative does not implode on their watch and based on what
they do or do not do. You have to punch this in?
You have to find a way to get Harbaugh to take this job.
You have to. All right, So, you know, hit on
the floor. I also do think that, you know,
as, as I run through the Giants and the Falcons, like I'm just
looking at this list here. So Green Bay's obviously crossed
out. Lafleur's going there.
This is really pertaining to horrible.
I think that the Browns, you know, I wouldn't rule them out
myself. There were different sources
over the weekend that linked him to the Browns.
At least having, you know, surface interest.
And once you have surface interest and once you get in
somebody's building or have a conversation, if that franchise.
And you would have to think the Browns are pretty damn desperate
at this point. If that team is so desperate
that they do whatever and they just acquiesce and acquiesce and
acquiesce and acquiesce. Like whether it's money, power
or both, Like, I can't say that it's impossible that he winds up
with the Browns. I don't think it happens.
But you got at least leave the door slightly ajar.
I would actually keep an eye on the Titans to an extent.
Now the word is that Horrible is going to lock himself in his
film room, and he already did this weekend and just plow
through the film and basically watch every play that Darts made
and every play that Cam Ward's made.
I think Cam Ward's a pretty dynamic player.
And I think Tennessee is a great state.
I think it's a great place to live.
I think it's, I know they've got a lot of money.
I think they got about $100 million in cap space and The
Jets are right around 70 something.
Tennessee has even more. I think they might have the
most, I don't know, the Raiders I think have the most Tennessees
right there. I think there's a lot of a lot
of appealing aspects to what the Tennessee Titans are doing.
So while we might sit here and say, come on, it's Tennessee,
it's the Titans, what are the Titans?
And it's very easy to say that Cam Ward's a boss.
What the hell did he do? If you really consume the NFL,
like I know many of you do and aren't just Jets or Giants heavy
and Jets and Giants intensive, and you do follow what's going
on in Tennessee, you'll know that Cam Ward is actually like
his first year. Don't look at the stats in terms
of film, what he's put out there is pretty appealing.
I don't know how appealing to horrible, but appealing to
enough to make them a bit of a threat there.
So I, I, you know, to me, that's where it's you going to run into
some issues here, you know, but this is the absolute way.
We just have to get this done. That's it.
At least get it done in terms of movement.
You know, Can you imagine what would be worst case here?
Let me just jot this down. Let me go through it.
Then I'll start reading some of these messages and I'll get you
some Yanks and Mets hot stove stuff, one on obviously belly
and then something on Peralta more for the Mets.
So giants. We're going to go Falcons here.
We're going to go Browns, Titans, Arizona separate
category. Not worried about them.
All right, so let's just say let's say that horrible were to
wind up with Titans. Let's say that Stefanski Now I
think that that's less possible than this next item I'll throw
out. I don't really think it's going
to be a brown, as I said before, but just for the sake, let's say
that Stefanski ones up in Atlanta, which I think is very
plausible. Well, now you got Stefanski off
the board and you've got Harbaugh off the board and then
you've got some other pretty appealing situations.
But now the list of appealing coaches is dwindling.
Well, at that point, I mean, if I'm the giants, I very easily
and very happily pivot to Mike McCarthy.
But you would not like that. And again, the the ability to
quantify that emotion is very is very hard for many of you to do.
And this is one of the themes early in the week last week.
If you guys missed it, just go to YouTube, check it out.
Even though we're not on YouTube live, we do download all the
stuff immediately and we'll get back up on YouTube, whatever
that's on them hopefully soon. But one of the shows, I think
that would have been either Tuesday or Wednesday.
You know, I, I, I talked about that.
And I think that the like the giants here are, are, are
handling it well. I do because I think when you
look at what they had to do to satisfy elements of the Rooney
rule, which by the way, is a sham on, on so many levels, the
spirit is right of the Rooney Rule, but the, the application
is, it is what it is. It's not right.
And I've said that again, born out of a good thing, but it's,
and I'm not saying it doesn't work at all, but it's, it's
just, it's a box that too many people check and you know it, It
is what it is. I'd like to see it tweaked a
little bit so it's more fair. I don't even have an answer as
to how you do that. But see, the Giants did what I
think other teams need to do. And this, to me, tells me that
the Giants will wind up in a good spot here because when they
fired Gable, they started to line things up and it was done
very stealthily, you know, no leaks, you know, within the
building. They had their plan so that now
they've already, you know, handled the OR check the boxes
for the Rooney Rule. So that's good.
So now they could just jump into what they have to jump into and
get the guy that they want. Whereas, and I also think that
that's part of the reason why. Plus I think that they think
he's good. But if you're the Packers and
you fire, which they're not going to be just tuned in.
Lafleur is going to be back. He's going to get the extension.
But if they would have fired him today or tomorrow, well, now
you've got to start the process of, of everything.
And that obviously entails the, the Rooney Rule and, and many
other aspects there. So as you do that, the
horribaughs and the Stefanski's you would imagine and the
McCarthy's I would think would, well, not that they would bring
McCarthy back in Green Bay, but you know what I mean.
They would they, they would be behind it.
So at least I have the sense here that the Giants have been
buttoned up and, and they've had their, their ducks in a row and
they've had a plan. And that's a good starting point
for a franchise that really, for the last 10 years, outside of
one year, really has felt as if they had been planned less.
So that's a good job. And I do think they're going to
wind up with Harbaugh. And if not, I think they wind up
with Stefanski. And I think that the pivot would
be a very good. But I really do.
All right, let's get some some messages here.
How about Notorious Neil version on X?
All right, I don't want to know the coach with a losing record.
No, Stefanski, Harbaugh's a winner.
All right, listen, Notorious. I get that, Neil.
I guess Neil's your first name. Thank you, Neil.
I think personally and respectfully, I really think
that that's a that is a short sighted way of looking at it
because I could also say now it depends what you're looking for.
More stability, better resume, sure.
I mean Harbaugh's that guy. But who has more upside, the 63
year old man or the 46 year old coach who by the way has already
proven the ability to forge forward despite being surrounded
by the most inept people and and ownership this side of The Jets
were comparable to The Jets in the Browns.
I mean, really, I, I almost is going to sound crazy and I do
disagree with you. I I respect that you want
horrible, that's fine. But I don't think that you need
to get there by denigrating or or completely devaluing
Stefanski To me. And this the part that will
sound a little weird, like a contradiction, because it's
you're supposed to win in the NFL and that's judged by Super
Bowls and horrible's got one. Stefanski's got none.
But to me, if you win 11 games, as he did a couple of times with
the Browns and you win the coach of the year twice with the
Browns, with some of the quarterbacks that he had and the
quarterback play that he and the quarterback like room that he
had to deal with. Not to mention this year with
Sanders and you know, all the other stuff, retreads and
retreads and veterans and backups and and nothing.
I mean, he's probably saying, please fire me, Get me the hell
out of here. So I go to a real franchise.
To me, when you win early, when you do what he did with the
Browns early, I got to go. This is going to sound crazy,
but to me it's almost as great of an accomplishment as actually
winning the Super Bowl with a healthy, forward thinking,
buttoned up, good franchise. Think about what the man's had
to overcome in in Cleveland. So I think Stefanski's terrific.
I really do. I think you're sleeping on him.
That's your opinion. That's certainly your
prerogative. I get that, but I do not share
that opinion. All right, how about this DM013?
Why are you so convinced Mendoza is going to be a top quarterback
in the NFL? Does he have the arms talent to
throw into smaller windows in the NFL?
Yeah, I do. Why am I so convinced?
Thank you for that. I've been saying this for a
while. I remember where, you know, like
you or like some of you, I was doing a lot of reading during
the summer and getting a sense of as I like to do before the
college football season starts, just get a sense like, all
right, is the next draft going to be an old line draft?
Is it a quarterback draft? Is there, you know, a crop of
four or five receivers where this is thought to be a receiver
draft? A defensive edge rushed like, I
just want to get a sense. That's my my first, my first
pursuit. What's what's the main position
like who's most represented all right, with great players that
are going to be worthy of going top 15.
That's how I start. And then, you know, obviously
the quarterbacks are central and and and and most on my radar.
And you knew there was a dearth of them.
You knew it like you didn't. I didn't think arch was coming
out. Didn't start off well against
the Buckeyes. So that changed everything
played poorly. Heard the boos.
You know, beat up on some bad teams and then start to
regenerate at the end. But I never really thought he
was coming out this year, right? Who knows, maybe if the Giants
had the 1st overall pick he would have, but I never really
thought that was serious and seriously in play.
And for a while it was like Mendoza, more Simpson.
And then obviously Simpson is is lower than Mendoza and more,
although I do think Simpson's better than some of you do.
But the reason why I really think Mendoza's the real deal is
because there's not a quality that he doesn't possess.
And you know, you know, first of all, he's big.
He's 65225. And when you're 65225 at this
age in three, 4-5 years of, of better nutrition and more
importantly, you know, NFL weight room and that's your job.
You're going to BE65236237 before you know it.
Check. Good size, the kids brilliant.
I mean, the kid is a steady, easy leader.
Check. I think he's got great
anticipation in terms of the smaller windows.
I think he's got a really good arm.
I don't think it's like Josh Allen Cannon, like I'm not or
even Jeff George. If you remember that back in the
day as a, you know, as a as an NFL draft prospect who bounced
around and it was it was a head case, but had a great arm.
I just think that there's I think he's got everything.
Now. You can you know, I I don't
know, some of these recent quarterbacks here that have come
out had they had everything. Well, no, I don't.
I don't think that they have. And I also think that there's
great value by being at a place like Indiana that has no
football history. I think the last time they were
in the Rose Bowl was 1948. I think I heard that on during
their their game. I think it was 48.
It was pre 19504648, whatever it was.
So I, I think that that kind of it's an intangible.
I can't quantify it. But when you go to a school that
has no history, like the easy thing is, all right, you know,
back in the day, you know what, I'm going to play for Dean Smith
or, you know, I'm going to go play for Calhoun at UConn.
I'm going to stay local and play for Coach Konaseka.
And we're going to win 25 games with our eyes shut, right?
Like when you just jump into a machine, it, it, it, I'm not
saying that you're not good and I'm not saying that at all.
But it it's, it's already got momentum and it's easier to jump
in the car when it's already moving.
I think it's a lot harder to jump in the car with no wheels,
you know, Jack it up, put the wheels on and then hit top
speed. Like there's something there
that to me is incredibly rare and incredibly valuable.
And then I look at this emotional maturity.
He's some of his throws against against the Buckeyes, those
numbers weren't incredible, but some throws that he made along
the way were were just to me reflective of a guy.
And this is how I judge you of a guy, you know, fourth quarter,
789 minutes to go, clock ticking, cold January on the
road against a good team that's well coached with a pass rush.
Are you going to stand up and feel the heat and, and be
willing to get popped as you deliver a big throw?
And that's number one of my answer for him is yes #2 when
somebody's open, even if they're not really open, like they're
really open in college, put it through that smaller, you know,
less defined window check. And if you have to flush the
pocket and you're met with the choice of extend the playoff
platform, run it and, and, and make some yards, check or off
platform, throw it on the run check.
That's the guy that I want on my team.
He's better than Dante Moore. He's better than Simpson.
He's better than anybody playing college football right now.
It's not even close. So that's why what I said on
Friday, I meant it like I have been so in on Mendoza.
I was hoping that Mendoza had two picks and like a strip sack
that he didn't see that you'd have people saying, I don't
know, you know, like the Mel Kiper type says, I don't even
know if I don't like Mel. That's not a shot.
But like people who do what Mel does right, who are wrong more
than they're right, That's just just the reality of it.
Like one of those types saying, you know, I don't know, maybe
he's really not going to feel that pressure coming from the
blind side. How did you not see that?
Like I wanted him to play so poorly, so poorly.
And Dante Moore plays so amazing that the Raiders couldn't help
but really start to get in their own way and be the Raiders, even
though Tom Brady's there. I get that and at least have
something to contemplate as they as they really evaluated what
the best route was for them in terms of the number one overall
pick. Do they take Mendoza?
Do they take more? Do they allow The Jets to trade
up one spot? Do they allow somebody else to
trade up? Like there was a lot of options
and I ran through this at the start of the show and if you
missed it, I'll very briefly reset.
Like the first option was Mendoza bowls out more bowls
out. All right, good.
Raiders have something to think about.
Jets are emboldened to take more or two if he if you know if if
he plays well and under that scenario and then OK, that could
be a win win situation Or even if they both play well, Jets
still don't want to commit to a young 20 year old quarterback.
They want to look to next year, upgrade some other weaknesses,
which they have to because their roster is awful.
Well, then I'm like, all right, it's still the win because
somebody else will want to move up to the two spot.
If Moore would have played great.
And that's that's that's a good situation for The Jets.
Or Mendoza plays like S Moore plays amazing and then boom,
that further changes the situation or at least gives team
something to think about. Or, you know, Dante Moore plays
OK, Mendoza plays great, but somehow Oregon wins the game and
then Oregon goes and they ball out and more balls out.
And he's the impetus behind the national championship win
against Miami, which would also give people reason to pause and
and reinvent, evaluate this now. Now.
So we got the exact opposite, by the way.
I just, I don't know why I just did that, right?
So I went, no, this is great. Are any of your kids doing this?
I don't know who started this. I don't know why it started.
And I I just want to know when it's going to end.
The kids and my kids do this. They must do it about 20 times a
day at this point. Now I know when I was their age,
I would say annoying stuff too, like, but there is this little,
I guess it's a trend, the fad, whatever you want to call it,
where they call your name like, So my kids will say Dad and I'll
say yeah, like, and they'll say it with urgency.
Now I'm, I'm pretty good at the game, so I'm actually better
than them. So I get them more than they get
me. But the first few times they
would get me and I'd be in here or I'd be doing whatever.
Dad. Yeah.
And they go, no, I'm like, what? That was a that was a weird
conversation. Does anybody else deal with
that? And the way they do it, the
urgency and the tone and the pitch in their voice.
They are getting very good at disguising it.
And just even though I'm I'm, I'm better than them at this
game now, I figured it out. They still get me one.
So when my daughter got me yesterday and I just, I was in
the middle of work and like, she does it differently than he does
it and he does it more. Well, actually she probably does
it more now anyway. Just caught me off guard.
Anybody else deal with the I guess we'll call it the the no
game These kids are. Oh, my God.
All right, let me get the Let me get some other stuff here.
Yeah. What we got here.
All right, Somebody reposted this stream.
I'm not sure what that means. Reposted.
I have no idea what that means. Hopefully they.
Yeah. I mean, yeah.
All right, let me just address this again.
Everybody's asking Samson. Does BT not stream on YouTube
anymore? No, B team is BT is desperately
dying to be able to stream back on YouTube.
But we are in the middle of something that I simply cannot
control. And you know, it's funny, you
know, back in the day, you know, when our parents would have an
issue, they would get on the phone, they would call somebody
and you, I could, I could still see my parents like, come on,
pick up the phone like customer service.
I think I'd rather deal with that now than dealing with AI
technology responding back. I'm like, alright, is this a
real person? This is this a bot?
Is this AI generated because they personalize it in a way
that makes you think that it's real when we know that it's not
real. So I, I say that because it is
impossible to get a direct answer outside of a
regurgitation of policies and a very, very nebulous timeline.
I don't think it's going to be that long.
I've been saying that for a week or so.
This is now week #2 where the infraction, whatever the
guideline, community guideline, which I certainly did not mean
to do, just figuring this stuff out.
But yeah, I, I cannot, I cannot live stream right now on
YouTube. It's driving me absolutely
insane. And, and again, if I let it
bother me, it's going to really be a it's going to be a problem
because it's going to detract me from doing my job.
So I just say whatever. Control what you can control.
Talking to the mic, do a show. Here we go.
All right, Mark, Bears fandom welcomes you to be a fan, even
if it's for the playoffs. Yeah, You know, I remember
saying, Mark, first of all, I'm really happy for you guys.
It's absolutely awesome, dude. And I'll tell you about
something I tweeted after the game over the weekend, Like the
the Bears fans, man. First of all, the the rush of
emotions being down 21 to 3. Like think about that.
And I've been in these, we've all been in these situations.
It's it's freezing. You're at home.
So you're all the amongst yourself.
And I know there were Packer fans there, but 90% bears fans,
whatever the number was right? And it's half time and you sling
to the urinal, you go to the bathroom and you know, you
shuffling your feet, you know, you pissed off, you had another
beer, You know, like going to lose these guys again. 21 three
can even score a touchdown like so there's the emotion that you
had going into the game and that place was on fire pre game.
And then the reality or what appeared to be the reality of
the fate of a brutal, brutal exit and ousting from the play
offs at the hands of the team that you hate the most of
anybody in the NFL. And then the exhilarating,
completely unexpected 4 down conversions one leg throws into
triple coverage. Wow.
So first of all, unbelievable game.
I am not capable, Mark, though I, I do appreciate the
invitation. Like I could want you guys to be
happy because that's what's great about sport.
When you see something like that, not the same, not the same
fan base as celebrating over and over and over.
I love when somebody new cracks through and I think it's
awesome. But and and in in a weird way,
even though I'm a jets fan, I'm I kind of want the bills to get
there, even though I thought the Jaguars would beat them only
because I love Josh Allen. I just love what he represents,
how he comports himself, how he plays the guys just, you know,
no drama, no nonsense. Awesome, right?
And you know, it's not like it's the Pats who were really who I
hate or the Dolphins who I grew up hating because of Marino, a
large part of my life. The Bills have been a fair kind
of like us, a non entity in the NFL and their fans to me or more
most closely resembled Jets fans, in my opinion, more than
the Pats and the Dolphins. So I can kind of get behind the
a bills playoff win for their fans because I think that
they're I think that they're awesome.
Having said that, I got my teams.
I can't become a bears fan. You know, I appreciate that
Mark. I'm going to have to
respectfully turn that down. But I remember saying about two
weeks ago, I'm like, would it stun you if there was a Jaguars
Bear Super Bowl? Well, I mean, the Jaguars that
they very easily could have had it and they should have had it
on some level if it wasn't for the great Josh Allen.
And here we are. The Bears still have another
chance. So that was just unbelievable.
You know what, I'm sitting there watching the game.
This is what I tweeted too, just to finish up pay off that
thought before I'm watching. I tweeted after the game.
I'm like I need, I need to experience this again.
I need to I need to feel this as a football fan.
I mean, you know, we'll we've gone through this chapter and
verse the unkillable jets post game shows all the shows on the
fan, me and Sal right, Jets, giants, non entity, basically
apathy for most of my three years on the station, apathy
where the season was over. So that giants had a little
flicker this year, you know, beating the chargers, getting
some leads dart, obviously, you know, then some Jews firing the
coach and there was there there were conversation points, but it
has been just about that. Like, all right, who we bring it
in next? Who's going to who's going to
save The Jets? Who's going to save the giants?
I, I can't, I can't even remember the feeling, although
that Bears comeback kind of got me back there somewhat
emotionally. I'm like, I'll do anything to
feel this way again as a sports fan.
And no matter how much I love baseball and I love baseball and
no matter how much I love the Knicks and the NBA and St.
John's, like you, just the football energy, the every
single snap, it is just, it's just a different speed, man.
It is a different monster and I need it and we're nowhere near
it. And but but I'll tell you this,
you know, when you see a Bears team and you see some of these
other teams, I think about some of the teams that that played
over the weekend, right? Like how many of these
situations were were really, really, let's go back two years
ago. We're really good.
I mean, did you like the Panthers situation?
Not that they won over the weekend, but still they were in
it and they could have won, you know, Did you like the Panthers?
Did you like the Bears situation a couple of years ago?
No, you know, did you did you like the pack situation a couple
of years ago before, you know, Drake made we stranded or even
last year when you had Drake May and you won four games, the
opposite of this year when you won 13.
No, you know, even though the Chargers always lose here 1 and
done, you know, before Harbaugh came, did you love their
situation? No, like it, it could change
fast. And I mean, I'm not going to try
to convince you that it's going to change fast for The Jets, But
eventually it is going to change and it's going to change and
it's just going to hit us like a ton of bricks and it's going to
be amazing because I've actually forgotten how to be a good
football fan. Like I, it is so foreign.
I I honestly don't remember the last time I did it.
You want to tell me Aaron Rodgers, his first game, That's
week 1. I mean, that I've got to conjure
up that emotion. You want to tell me to a lesser
extent, week one this year, you know, high scoring game, Glenn's
first game going against Rodgers.
It's week 1. I mean, think about what the
real football fans have now that we don't.
I am desperate for it. You know, like Pookie in in New
Jack City. I need a football game that is
worth watching for my Jets. Like Pookie needs the crack pipe
back in the late 80s, early 90s. Can somebody give it to me,
please? Oh my God, oh man, do I miss it.
I miss it so much because these games are so awesome.
But unless you're betting it had a little action over the
weekend, did pretty well. Nothing crazy, but unless you're
betting it, you know, at this point, fantasy's over.
You know, in terms of conventional fannies, fantasy
for the regular season. Like you watch it because it's
just amazing theater. But now watching it with amazing
theater and it happens to be your team providing the amazing
theater. Oh my God, I want that so bad.
I need that man. Do I miss that God.
All right, what do we got here, guys?
What do we got here? I mean, I don't, I don't, I
don't really. I guess I'll figure this out
after so and so reposted the stream.
I I think that that's good. I'm I'm not entirely sure I
think that that's good. I'm really not sure.
So we'll figure it out. All right, let me get you a
little something here on the baseball stuff.
OK, so over the weekend, Yankees Bellinger impasse.
So what? Get lost and we don't need you,
Bellinger. Like I'm at my wit's end.
I tweeted this over the weekend. Done, dude, You don't want the
Yankees. Go on your merry way.
Go back to the Dodgers, go to the Mets.
I don't I no longer care. Now, that doesn't mean that I'm
not smart enough to know what's going on.
Like the one thing understand this because think about where
we were a year ago at this point, guys, right with Pete
Alonzo. Oh, you know, a year ago, Pete
looks like Pete's out the door. Oh, Mets getting ready to turn
to pay. Oh, wow, Pete's got an extension
now. It was an extension that allowed
Pete to opt out if he had a good year, which he did and he opted
out. Mets didn't want to do anything,
which I never thought that they would.
Baltimore. Baltimore comes in five year
deal, boom, Pete gets rewarded properly.
So he's going to have a good next half a decade with the
Orioles for a fun team and he's going to remain Pete Alonso
hitting bombs. Right?
But the tone of the offseason a year ago was all right.
That's it, man. Met fans were actually
conditioned. And that goes back to an amazing
day, right where, you know, that's where you start to let
Cohen and Stearns know and you better bring our boy back here.
What's going on? And I and I believe that that
was the impetus to change the minds.
I think that I can't prove this, but that's just where I think
that they went into amazing day with no, with no intention of
signing Pete, you spoke and then Cohen, who right now is letting
Sterns do all the baseball stuff, which is smart cuz that's
why you hired him. But I think last year, I think
the owner got a little, yeah, little little itchy there.
And he's like, hey, listen, get this done, dude.
I mean, again, I can't prove it. I think that's what happened.
They got it done. Short deal.
He played well, Mets didn't have a good season.
He bounces, whatever. So do I think that Bellinger is
going to sign a, you know, a couple of your deal with an opt
out after one? No, I don't because I think he's
a more valued player than Pete because he does things that can
show up and help you win a game when you go over 4.
And we know what those things are playing. 3 or 4 spots being
a plus on the bags, all that stuff.
Right. So Bellinger's contract is going
to be different than Pete or at least the Pete's contract last
year, but it doesn't mean it can't take on the same
characteristics. So I'm not sitting here saying
that Bellinger absolutely is not going to be a Yankee.
What I am saying is I don't care if he's a Yankee anymore at this
point. I am tired of Boris.
And let's not get this thing twisted here.
You know, last year with Juan Soto, as Boris was raking us
over the coals here, Yankees had and he did a great job for his
client. And by the way, he's doing a
great job for his client. Bellinger, provided he gets what
I think that he thinks he's going to get.
He's not getting 7. Somebody's going to probably
flinch and give him six or the to five with a lot more money or
a big AAV with opt out if the contract will look good and
we'll be able to be positioned as a win for Boris.
You could bet that because that's what's going to happen
because it almost always does with Boris, right?
But last year we had to sit here and, you know, I mean, I wasn't
begging and groveling for Juan Soto to come back, but I was
very clear. I want him back.
Why the hell wouldn't I want Juan Soto back behind Aaron
Judge? It's the best thing I've ever
seen, you know, in in in my baseball, in my life
back-to-back, you know, even Mattingly and Winfield wasn't
quite this or, you know, Ricky and Donnie, like, you know, I
mean, it was this was ridiculous.
That one year with Judge and Soto, epic.
I don't think we'll ever see that again.
I really don't. That's how unique that is,
because I don't know if we'll see a player like Judge ever in
our lifetime. And if you do, the chances of
them being coupled with a stud like Soto, who has an one of his
best years ever in many different categories behind
them. I mean, those odds are basically
invisible. So, but you played the game
because it's Juan Soto. I'm not playing this game
anymore. Goodbye.
Like, I, I, I'll let you, you know, go out there and do
whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
OK. Get great boards.
Fantastic. Awesome.
When you get the offer that you think is substantial enough for
you to take. And if he really wants to be a
Yankee, call us, come back, right, Give us the number.
We'll leave to say yes or no. And at that point, you have a
decision to make. But I wouldn't even really do
that as I think about that out loud.
Loud because that's preventing the Yankees from doing other
stuff during the during the off season season.
Now I mean something's got to happen here and before you know
it's going to be February 1st time's going man.
Like it is now the middle of January.
And I know that this happens year after year and it trickles
deeper and deeper into the offseason and it's further
complicated by the inevitable work stoppage labor strike that
is going to be that is going to wreck.
I don't care. You know what man, Fred said the
other day with carton and and and C Mac, it's going to be a
disaster, right. So 2027 is going to be a mess.
So you know, I mean everything is a little more convoluted and
more stressful. I I understand that right, but
I'm trying to reduce the stress and just build the team.
All right, and if the Yankees, all right could make the
playoffs without Juan Soto, which they did, then I'm pretty
sure that the Yankees can make the playoffs without Bellinger,
whose advanced analytics stink. All right, doesn't it?
Now, I like him. This is not me doing a heel turn
and and going in on Bellinger. He's a good player.
And there's reasons, right, for some of his soft numbers, like
there's a reason why his exit below is weak because his two
strike approach is different. Just tries to flick the ball the
other way, which I like when you have two strikes, put the ball
in play, right? So a strikeout rate is down way
below league average, which is a great thing.
But some of the other things that are that are really
favorable come contract time are lower than expend.
You would want less than optimal.
So it's a bit of a more complicated analysis, right?
And and negotiation. But if you watch Bellinger every
night, you know that he's good, but you also know that he's not
irreplaceable. That's it.
Like I'm not going past this week doing this song and dance
with Bellinger. You want the Yankees?
Great, we'll keep you. You don't.
That's it. Goodbye.
So what's the plan here here? Well, now you got to incorporate
the Cubs with Nico Horner. And you know, another thing too.
So Bregman, five years for big money, right with I think 77 or
so deferred again. Hey, Yankees, Yo Mets this thing
on. Can you guys for once devise a
contract outside of Bonilla where there's real deferred
money? Can you do this?
Can you join the modern negotiations?
You know, can you, can you figure out that things are
evolving and find a way to entice clients of whomever to
sign with you? That's that's also financially,
you know, beneficial to you down the road?
Hey, here's a little secret. If you defer money, you can
reinvest that money so that when it's time to pay that money in
the deferral, the investment has given you a dividend, so you've
made money. What an heck.
And up. Whoa.
What a stunning development. I didn't know that.
Well, I know it. And it doesn't seem like our our
locals. And if they do know it, it seems
like they're very reticent to operate under those those rules.
And I just don't know why. Let me see.
Hold on. I can.
I can, I can kick some cash down the road.
Yeah, I'm in. Because as you're doing that,
you know what you're really doing, you're giving Aaron Judge
a real chance to win. You know, you give him a chance
to actually get back to and win a World Series with a real team.
You know, like you did for Derek and Reggie.
I, I, I don't know, man, I am less.
I love Nico Horner. Let me get that out of the way.
And I would love that for the Yankees.
I love that for them. He can run.
He can feel he's going to flirt with 300.
He never strikes. I think his K rate was like 8
percentile maybe. Oh, no, not 8 percentile.
That's eight. Like he struck out 8% of the
time. So basically it's like 92%,
whatever it is. I mean, his K rate's phenomenal
and he's just a winner and a grinder.
I don't know that as many of you assume that because they got
Bregman and they've got a little bit of a log jam in the infield
there, that Horner's the odd man out.
I, I don't know about that. But what I would like to do at
this point is I would like to trade for Nico Horner and I
would like to start my offseason and what I see what I would do
at that point, I would say, you know what, dude, that's, that's
enough. Now you've got to be step back
before I say, before I just drop the bottom line with with Boris
and Bellinger, you've got to be lined up with some other avenues
and be and, and have the ability to say what I'm about to say.
You should tell Boris and Bellinger.
So I'm going to line it up such that I'm already engaging the
Guardians and I've got a deal. Who do you want?
You want Louis heel. And you want.
I don't know how appealing heel is to.
I'm not getting you, Schlittler. Anybody else that you want.
And the Yankees have two and really three arms that are of
high value that have not yet pitched to the major leagues
that universally. And it's not a Yankee Homer.
All right. Yeah, I think you know that
about me by now. Universally really, really
thought to be plus plus pitchers that are coming up that throw
really hard that have lights out stuff.
And you see, unlike the position players, the Yankees do get a a
little bit and they've earned this.
To be fair to them, the benefit of the doubt when it comes to
pitching prospects around baseball versus their position
prospects. All right, So the first thing
you do, you engage, if you haven't already engaged the
Guardians on on some basic level, take it another step.
Hey, we want Quan, all right. What?
So we'll give you whatever, What do you want for Quan?
And then we'll adjust that. And the Yankees have enough,
whether it's a Jones, Dominguez or a couple of the arms or heal
a couple of young, young arms I mentioned or heal, you can
satisfy. I strongly believe the
Guardians, the Guardians demands for a Stephen Quan deal.
So I got Quan as my left fielder, all right, So I don't
need Bellinger right now. So that's that's done.
Boom. Then I, and I don't, I would
have said trade Jazz to the Guardians, but I don't think
they want him for $10 million. Otherwise you keep Quan, right?
So then I take Jazz and I trade him Jazz and another pitcher and
I'm in the Peralta sweepstakes. You know, not one of these
middling pitcher like one of the, you know, obviously
Cabreras gotten. There's not many of them, but I
get myself, and I'm not talking about school ball.
The next cut I get a starting pitcher.
So I got hornered second base, right.
And then you know what I'm going to say, I just go, but I go
bonkers and I pay Pichette and I got a righty and I got my left
fielder who's a great left fielder in Kwan.
All right. You know, I don't love the
Grisham situation, $22 million. I don't I don't I don't like
him. But I'm not going to reset this
all the time. Think the Yankees messed it up,
but at least going to hit some home runs.
It'll be a good outfielder. Quan Grisham, obviously I'm a
judge corner at 2nd. And then as you figure out the
Volpe injury, the Volpe standing within the franchise when he
comes back, what he looks like. Woah.
But Bichette could play third. You know, you could even what if
you don't trade Jazz? You could, but I I know Jazz
doesn't like playing third base. Tough.
You going to play where we where we tell you?
So if somebody doesn't want to trade for Jazz or the Yankees
don't want to trade him, which I think they're inclined to do,
then I can still mess around and have Jazz play a little third
base, maybe trade McMahon. There's so many ways to go about
this, and it takes creativity, it takes a proactive mindset.
It takes a willingness to to dance with a couple of teams on
the trade market. It takes a willingness to cut a
massive check for Bichette. But do not tell me that there's
not a way for the Yankees to build out this team.
I don't want to hear it. And it doesn't have to include
Bellinger because, you know, I think somebody's going to crack
and give Bellinger that sixth year.
I don't think it will be the Yankees.
I don't think it should be the Yankees.
I will not get on the Yankees. If they say nap tapping out,
we're good. We're not giving you 6 if
somebody else is, bye, bye. Do you think Go back to LA, have
fun wherever you're going to go? But I just gave you a road map
where you'd have a great lead off hitter and Kwan, you know,
order. I mean, you could bat them.
You could bat them second if you want to.
Can you imagine now it's an old school, not a ton of power,
which I'm fine with. You can go Juan Horner judge, I
mean, you know, think about that.
Or you could go or you could go Quan Bichette judge and then
almost have Horner down somewhere more at the bottom and
kind of reset that in, you know, the old school conventional 789
guy, top of the order, whatever. That's it.
Like that's the road map there. I'm just, I mean, I don't, I
don't know when these teams going to wake up and do
something here, man, I don't know.
But this off season for the Yankees and the New York Mets
has been as listless and as uninspiring, not confounding.
I I understand what's happening. Like I agree with the Mets plan
to deconstruct. I've said that many times.
I understand going through the game with bores, but there's a
limit where I'm not playing the game anymore and I'm at the
limit. That's why I'm here today.
But up until this point, you know, I haven't been confused.
I just been bored. It's been very boring.
You know, last year the Soto stuff was incredible.
You know, let's see, all right, got a lot of football things
there. Obviously.
Let me give you something here on the bets.
So to me, like as a lesser extent to to a degree, but like
I think that the giants would would really fail.
Like if it would, the Giants wouldn't would mess up if they
don't get horrible because I think horrible wants to go there
and I think that he will go there.
Now, Peralta for the Brewers doesn't really have the say
necessarily of where he goes. I don't think he's got a no
trade. I know he's got one year to go.
But I think similarly, if the Mets, because Peralta is gone,
he's going to get he's getting next 10 days he's traded book
it. And I think Peralta is going to
be a Met. And I've always thought that.
But like, if the Mets flinch and they're not receptive to
whatever the Brewers want back in return, well, then that's on
the Mets. And then Stearns is going to get
rightfully crushed because I don't think there's a lot of
teams that have the perfect fit in terms of profile, like
prospect profile, that the Mets have to be able to satisfy the
demands of the Brewers here. I think that it's a perfect fit.
Now, forget about McClain. There's no way I'm giving him up
for anybody, even school at this point.
I'm not doing it. That's how much I think of
McClain. And if the Brewers want McClain
and there's just no budging deals off, go find somebody
else. I'm not doing it, but you do
have to find somebody to shield McClain like you can't and not
not that you don't want to. I mean, not that he can't pitch
opening day, but you just need a guy who's been there, you know,
200 strikeout guy, a high inning guy, a guy that's won a lot of
games, a guy that's been in the playoffs.
Like Peralta does so much, not just for the Mets like this
year, but as they build out the staff with some young guys.
I I think they it would be it would be really a home run fit.
You'd have to think that Stearns is ties to Milwaukee gives him
the the upper hand. I I would think now if the Mets
had a a lame prospect base, this will be a pipe dream.
But over the weekend, we'll learn what and that's why you
know he's going to get dealt like what it becomes this
concrete like the Brewers want a young Major League ready
starting pitcher in place of Peralta.
Well, take tongue, all right, takes, bro.
Take whoever you whoever you prefer.
Now, I don't know what else it would take to make that.
It's not going to be, I don't think it would be just tongue
for Peralta. So this was a pretty good
development over the weekend. Now, some of you might use this
as fuel, not to trade him, but Ocuna hitting four home runs in
winter ball. I don't know.
You want Pong and Acuna for Peralta done.
Let's go. Like, I really think that he's
got to be in New York by 204 strikeouts, 176 innings, a a 2.7
OERAA winner. He's making $8 million in 2026
and then he's a free agent. You know, the Brewers aren't
paying him. That's a done deal.
You already know what they want. The Mets have the the the the
means to satisfy that. So I really think that they
absolutely have to make that happen.
I think that they will more on those Stefanski.
Let's see. I want to see if I get a
baseball thing here was offered report just came out that
Bellinger was offered five years, 160.
All right. I'm assuming that's the that's
the Yankees. OK, good.
That's fine. First it was thought to be 30
AAV, which obviously is 150, you know, maybe the Yankees, you
know, sprinkle in one 1 1/2, whatever, you know, $2,000,000 a
little bit too. I get 22 million actually
literally at that point. That's fine.
I don't care about the money. To me, what I desperately if you
if it came out and it was five years, 170, you know, or even
175, which he's not worth, but with some deferrals, I'm not
going to, that's not going to bother me.
What bothers me about the Yankees is they have been cheap
is the wrong word, but they've been far too aware of how they
construct these deals. And by stretching it out they
are. They are avoiding absorbing, you
know, that bigger AAV each year. But by stretching it out,
they've had a deal with decaying players and diminished players
on the back end of contracts that we don't want anymore.
And that's just a conversation that I'm done with.
That's it. Like, come on, you got to learn
from previous mistakes. So again, I want Bellinger, but
I want him in five years. Anything beyond that get lost
and any and by the way, I even think even at five years,
whatever the money is the plan that I just laid out.
If you could execute that where you got quad and left and her
and and and Nico Horner at second base and either trade
Jazz for pitcher or put Jazz at third base, whatever, I actually
think that in a lot of ways that that's even better by just
bringing back Bellinger and a starting pitcher.
Now you got more contact, you got more speed, you got a plus
left fielder. And listen, Belly's a great
outfielder, but so is Quan and Horner's a better second baseman
than Jazz and he makes more contact, you know, and he's a
higher average guy. So there's other ways to go.
I got to dive into that. I got to dive into that.
You know that that's the problem, not not having
everything set up yet behind the scenes, which which I'm getting
there. Yeah.
All right, Nikki, Nikki Fermato, where we got there?
Nikki, thoughts on on Trader for Horner?
I just brought that up. Another utility, consistent bat
versatility infield. You look at some of these
numbers, Where is it with Horner?
Why do I write it down? What do you strike out 47 times
last year? The hell is it?
Yeah. All right, so Bregman five
years, 70 plus deferred. Horner jazzed third base, maybe
Horner to second try last four years.
How about this? We're going to geek out for a
second like because Horner to me is thought to be a utility
player and I understand that. To what extent?
Because he has bounced around a little bit, though not nearly as
much as you think. The last couple of years he's
been primarily second base, right?
I think he played 153 at second this year.
There was some early year like, you know, a little sprinkle the
third, a little sprinkle outfield.
He's a second baseman the last four years.
Check out these wars, right? 4.25.53.7.
Last year's WAR was 6.2. Like that's not a super sub
Util. That's not Joe Mcewing, you
know, I mean, super sub, you know, Andy Fox, that's a guy
who's helping you win every single night.
I mean, hit 297, struck out 49 times, They stole 29 bags.
And he's a great fielder and he's making $12 million.
So, yeah, there's a lot of things there that can be done
about this guy. AJ Bianco, what's up, AJ?
Can't figure out the Yankees thinking how could they think
there is good or better than last year, especially with two
starting pitches on the shelf for a month or two?
I don't know. I mean, if I had that answer,
Aji really don't know. First of all, OK, even if the
Yankees were thinking about this now, that is that the essence of
that question is a massive problem because AJ is not wrong
in his premise. You know, basically the Yankees
are in their minds thinking, well, you know, we were
basically good enough last year and almost won the division, you
know, tied Toronto, 94 wins and you know, Garrett Cole comes
back, maybe we win the division, blah, blah, blah.
Where whatever. Different matchup home home
field All right, the Yankees weren't good enough with
Bellinger last year. We all know that right so to
just bring back Bellinger is to merely get back to a point that
was not good enough. Thank you very much for the for
the text there to a point that's not good enough to win and by
the way, you know last year really just kind of had to worry
about Toronto. I think it's a totally different
beast totally different animal in the American League East this
year. I think the Red Sox are going to
be pretty good. I think balter war is going to
be better. I think Tampa is going to to be
scrappy. Yanks is the only one who hasn't
done anything in the division. Everybody else has gotten
better. All right, So I don't, I don't
think that this division like I, I think that the division winner
could win fewer than 94 games. I really do.
I think you could be 9293. I I basically I don't see
anybody winning and anybody including the Yankees, even if
they do all these things that I want them to do.
I don't think maybe Toronto if they got Tucker, maybe, but like
the 9899 hundred win threat, you know, messing around with that.
I don't think that's going to happen this year in the American
League East here. So I, I, I think it's a very
faulty thought process and a very dangerous want to think,
well, you know, it's a crapshoot.
Get to October, never know. We'll bring back Bellinger.
You know, we'll, we'll win the division again and maybe or
we'll tie for it again. We'll be right there and we'll
theoretically be better because we'll have Cole come back and
we'll Don come back. Here's the problem, though, and
I understand that to an extent, right, but you are leaning on a
couple of factors #1 the other teams not getting better, which
I just dispelled, they're going to be better.
And even if all of them are better, at least two of the
three are going to be significantly better.
Fewer wins there #2 like if you don't get Bellinger, and even if
you do and you don't do the, the Quan, the Nico Horner stuff,
whatever, trade Jazz for starting pitcher or somebody
else for starting pitcher. Well, there is a real chance
that the Yankees stumble out of the gate this year. 12 and 1511
and 15 now. I mean, could they stun us and
start 13 and 4? Sure.
But I've got to deal in the reality of the type of arms
they're going to be running out there against really good teams.
And you're going to be going to Will Warren a lot early and
Yarborough a lot early. And Louis Hill, I don't know
what the heck he is at this point, you know, and that and
obviously Max Freed, of course, but like that's a lot of scripts
through the rotation that I don't think is really going to
give the Yankees a chance to win a lot of low scoring games.
Not to mention guys. I mean, I I've just kind of
pushed this to the side. The bullpen stinks outside of
Bednar. So I just think it's incredibly
in right now. Right now the Yankees aren't
even a playoff team. You could think what you want,
but I think most of you are with me on this.
The Yankees are a non playoff team in my opinion right now.
And even if it's just Bellinger flip a coin, I still don't know.
So you know, all these things they got to do, they've yet to
do anything. It's getting laid early and they
got to start moving and and I don't know when that's going to
be. I really don't.
Somebody talking about the Knicks here.
Yeah, I watched the Knicks last night.
Obviously, Felice says thank you very much.
I appreciate that text there, Felice.
Knicks have the heart back. Yeah, they do.
I honestly what you did? They're coming.
BT Let's go talk some hoops yet. Today's more of a football
basketball day. I watched the Knicks.
Cat wasn't thrilled he was on the bench.
Tough. You don't like it, too bad.
I mean, do do some other things better and you won't be on the
bench for the final seven or 8 minutes.
That's one thing that I like about Mike Brown is that he goes
with the hot hand rather than forcing the issue.
And yeah, you do see a different Knicks team with Josh Hart.
So now I still don't love the fact that, you know, it's
basically, you know, back and forth with the Portland Trail
Blazers, you know, who are middling average, basically
couple of games under 500 team. I mean, could you blow somebody
out? But no, you got to start
somewhere. I'm not going to quibble on
style points, but I do like that adaptability, something I talked
a lot about with Mike Brown as the coach here.
Let's see here Serpico, who's chatting quite a bit.
Big fan of the show. What up Serp?
All right, I'm here late, but we're why it's not that's that's
not you. It's not on me.
Did you hear the rumor the Yankees in the lead for Peralta?
Apparently Louis Hill is a centerpiece.
If that's the done, if that's the deal, do it because
remember, the Astros wanted Louis Hill for Kyle Tucker and
the Yankees said no. And I thought that was asinine.
Now obviously he doesn't have the same value, and Peralta's
not quite Tucker. But if it's, you know, Louis
heel, I did not see that again, I'm on air.
Thank you. Although I did I did say but
that I think that the Yankees are squarely in the mix.
I just think that the Mets have more resources to get it done.
Now if it's Louis heel and a lower level minor leaguer that's
highly valued that I don't know about.
I I'm not going to get into the weeds on that.
Now I and that satisfies what the Brewers want.
Great. I'll do that in a heartbeat.
You want Louis heel, I get Peralta done.
Where? Where do I sign?
But that would be a bad look for the Mets.
Like the Mets can't let that happen.
Not to the point where they off the ante and throw McClain in
there. That will be asinine.
They're not doing that. But to me like I would.