Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 A hard knock life in Chicago. That's how we start our number two live right here on this Friday on the early line on SportsGrid.
00:09 He is Donny Rightside. I am Ben Stevens. Two more hours to go to round out this week and send you into your weekend live right here on TEL.
00:18 A ton of National Football League conversations coming your way up next and something I'm very excited to discuss with my co-host DRS.
00:27 That's the wide receiver market in the National Football League. A small snippet yesterday when we got the extension news around Jalen Waddell of Donny's impassioned speech about what is happening in Cincinnati with T. Higgins that I think we will dive further into in just a little bit.
00:45 But two more hours to go. Our coach J. Y. joins us later in this second hour to look back on the Western Conference Finals. Tyler Bell on it one final time and then set the stage for the NBA Finals.
00:57 Although we have six days to set that stage. Yeah, here's the problem. Also, it's nice that we do have the weekend Saturday and Sunday, so that stage doesn't need to be set.
01:05 But quite frankly, like wrapping it up last night, starting on the NBA Finals, Monday will hit the NBA Finals, Tuesday will hit the NBA Finals, Wednesday will hit the NBA Finals, Thursday will hit the NBA Finals, and it finally will begin at that point.
01:19 It's just a shame that we have to wait that long. We should be getting going like next Tuesday. Just enough time to decompress and get excited at the same time as opposed to waiting for next week for the NBA to come back and save us there on a Thursday and give us hopefully a great performance.
01:33 But it's the way it is. It's our job here to get you ready for the NBA Finals. And by the time it does get here, yeah, you'll be ready.
01:39 That is our guarantee. Every single angle, every single number for the 2024 NBA Finals between the Celtics and the Mavericks.
01:49 You will know by the time we tip in game number one, the opening night of the NBA Finals on a Thursday next week, six days away inside TD Garden.
01:59 But we focus now on the National Football League. The Bears not happy about it, but they will be on hard knocks later in the month of August.
02:09 There's so many hard knocks variations. Maybe you are wondering which one this is. This is the original training camp with the Chicago Bears.
02:17 So Caleb Williams' first training camp in his National Football League career will be in front of the cameras on HBO for all to see.
02:27 The most intriguing and interesting choice. And Donnie, the way it works with hard knocks, the criteria for a team that has to be selected,
02:35 you retain your head coach from the season prior, so not a new head man in charge, and you did not make the playoffs.
02:44 They have to be just mediocre enough to be in consideration for hard knocks.
02:48 The three selections potentially this year were the Bears, the Broncos, and the Saints. The NFL gives us Chicago.
02:55 Yeah, and I'm glad they did give us Chicago because there's a lot of fun topics to look at.
02:59 New quarterback, generational kid coming to town, a revamped team with a lot of optimism heading into 2024.
03:06 Those are the teams that we'd like to see here. Like if they would put the Saints on, I'm not even so sure even register on the rating scale at that point.
03:13 Who's going to want to watch, "Hey, can Derek Carr come back and be a solid quarterback?"
03:17 Did you see what Taysom Hill was doing in the offseason? Nobody cares about that.
03:20 We care about the Chicago Bears. It was a good choice by the NFL.
03:23 And also, just a side point on this, Ben, I always get a kick out of this.
03:27 The coaches can't stand it at this point. If coaches had their way, Ben, NFL games wouldn't be broadcast on TV
03:32 because nobody would want to see what the actual plays would be.
03:35 So I usually get a kick out of that. But from an ownership standpoint, you should love being on hard knocks.
03:39 It's a chance to put your team in a positive light, which always gets much, much more eyeballs,
03:44 particularly in your hometown, and gets everybody interested.
03:47 It opens us up to, "Wow, maybe the Chicago Bears, if I didn't have a favorite team, could be my favorite team."
03:52 But it's a very intriguing story and a very good choice here for hard knocks.
03:56 Yeah. Yeah, I think it's going to be fantastic.
03:59 Now, Chicago was not all too pleased to go inside and take the exclusive look in the hallowed halls of Hallas Hall.
04:07 Go figure, right?
04:09 It's not something they wanted for their rookie quarterback.
04:11 And I get it from a perspective, Donny. It feels a little bit intrusive.
04:14 Could you consider it a distraction? I guess.
04:18 There's cameras following your every move as you're trying to get ready for a National Football League season.
04:23 But I don't think the notoriety is all that bad if you can shape it from a positive perspective.
04:29 And frankly, the Bears should be very positive in their outlook entering 2024,
04:35 not just the generational quarterback prospect that is Caleb Williams,
04:39 but a Bears team that won five of their final seven games last year in the regular season,
04:44 led by a great defensive effort under Matt Eberfloos as he took back the reins of the defense.
04:50 It's why he's back for year number three at the helm in the Windy City.
04:54 And don't just take the hard knocks bump or the approach of it.
04:57 The oddsmakers are telling you right here, right now, following a successful offseason
05:02 that culminated in a great NFL draft for the Bears,
05:06 Chicago is expected to have a winning record, be above 500 this year,
05:10 eight and a half the win total. The over has the juice.
05:13 They are favored with a minus money price to reach the postseason in the NFC.
05:18 And that has always been the incredibly intriguing thing to me about the Bears.
05:23 You have a rookie quarterback coming in. You use the number one overall pick on him,
05:28 and you are expected to be a playoff team right away. Not two, three years down the line.
05:35 Not, "Hey, Caleb, go out there, show us some effort. Let's try to get the six or seven wins this year."
05:40 You are expected to be above 500, have a winning record, and reach the playoffs.
05:45 Yes, and the bar has been reset by CJ Stroud, which means no longer, you know,
05:49 back in the day, just going back to my Eagle days, where it was Freddie Mitchell got drafted
05:53 out of UCLA to the Eagles. But back then it was like, "Well, wide receiver's going to take
05:57 three to four years to learn the league and how to like it." No, that's since been changed.
06:00 You see the wide receivers now coming in 1,500 yards for some of these top guys.
06:04 The same thing we can look at for some of those players like Caleb Williams.
06:07 CJ Stroud last year was so good. We're expecting Caleb Williams to be almost equal,
06:11 if not better, this season. If he is, they're going to be in the playoffs.
06:15 Look at the offensive skill players that they have. This is atypical from a team that drafted
06:20 number one overall. Now granted, they weren't the worst team in the NFL last year.
06:23 They just made a shrewd move in getting a trade. Caleb Williams, DeAndre Swift, DJ Moore,
06:28 Keenan Allen, Romo Duse, and a very solid tight end, Nicole Komet.
06:32 That's good enough to make the playoffs. If your offensive line holds up and you have
06:36 a generational quarterback, even though he's a rookie here, how bad could it possibly be?
06:40 You saw the past two years with Justin Fields as quarterback. That was an offense
06:44 that set the NFL back 50 years in the passing game. Now you're actually going to have
06:48 a competent passing game. We should have some good times here in Chicago this year.
06:52 And that's why, despite being a short favorite, now under $2 to win NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year,
06:59 I actually think Caleb Williams is the correct bet. We have only seen four quarterbacks win
07:04 this award in the last decade because oftentimes, fair or not, we tie team success,
07:10 a winning record, wins and losses, to the quarterback spot. If the Bears track and follow this,
07:16 and Caleb is the guy to lead them to a winning record, and the statistical performance dust
07:21 then backs it up, I think he runs away with the Offensive Rookie of the Year award,
07:25 like we saw out of C.J. Stroud in Houston a season ago. We'll have some interesting
07:31 conversations, Donny, as we get closer to 2024 in the NFL, about the new kickoff rules.
07:37 It really does bring back the third phase of football. Offense, defense, special teams.
07:43 It's going to be great. You have to land the ball within a certain area. You are kicking off
07:47 and the kick defenders, I guess you could say, cannot start their approach and running
07:54 until the ball actually leaves the foot of the kicker. Dave Tope, long-time special teams
07:59 coordinator under Andy Reid in Kansas City, had an interesting comment about this yesterday
08:04 at Chiefs OTA. Maybe placing Harrison Bunker, a name that for some reason people know
08:10 as a kicker around the National Football League now, with Justin Reid, who has kicked before
08:15 for Kansas City, but actually plays defense and acts as a safety. You now have one more
08:22 kick defender in there getting rid of a puny kicker who shouldn't be out there in the first place.
08:27 Here's the point of it, I respect what the special teams coach is trying to do, because
08:32 we haven't seen this rule put into place just yet, but what's the theory behind this and
08:36 having Harrison Bunker kick off anyway at this point? You still have Harrison Bunker
08:40 needing to make a tackle if it's returned now. Now I understand that you have to return it,
08:45 I get it, but I just think it's one of those overblown situations. Look at, oh, let's just
08:48 outsmart everybody and put a safety in as the kicker at this point. I'm interested to see
08:53 how this turns out, but the one thing I do know, this is designed to give the offense
08:57 better field position and also a more exciting play, which means we're not starting every
09:02 single drive at the 25-yard line. You should be 25-plus each and every time now, which
09:08 would be great to watch if you like team totals, bet the over it early.
09:11 One more thought about the new kickoff rules and then the wide receiver combo next.
09:16 See special teams coordinator Dave Tobe making an interesting point yesterday at OTAs in
09:23 Kansas City. Maybe replacing your usual kicker, Harrison Bunker, losing his job. Maybe he'll
09:29 figure out some other things to do for Justin Reed with the new kickoff rules in the National
09:34 Football League. Now, Reed has kicked actual kickoffs and field goal attempts in regular
09:39 season games for the Chiefs in times past and Donnie, you said, but if you have Bunker
09:45 or any other kicker out there for your team and he has to make the tackle, then you're
09:50 going to be in a bad spot either way. The reason this could be different though, is
09:55 because the other defenders, the other 10 guys on the field on that kickoff defense
10:00 do not get to take off under these new kickoff rules until the ball leaves the foot of the
10:06 kicker. They don't get the running start like they used to. So you'd have them already 10,
10:10 15, 20 yards in front after the kicker watches the ball sail probably more than likely through
10:15 the end zone. So if you have the kicker who is an athlete and a safety and a defensive
10:20 player like Justin Reed, kick it and then immediately start to catch up as well. He's
10:24 immediately involved in any of the tackling or the defense of that kickoff return, which
10:31 is very different systematically than what we were used to seeing in terms of NFL kickoffs.
10:36 Yeah, we'll be overthinking it, but I love it. I think it's a great rule because the
10:40 worst play in professional sports is the kickoff in football when 15 to 20 years ago, it was
10:47 one of the more entertaining plays in sports. So something had to be done and so many times
10:52 back on the NFL, these rules stink. You're taking hitting out of the game. This is one
10:56 of those rules that I equate to Major League Baseball and Rob Manfred stepped in and said
10:59 this game is stale as hell. Something has to happen to move the pace along. This should
11:03 be able to do that. No longer just going upstairs to grab a beer and coming back knowing it's
11:07 been a touchback. You might miss one of the more exciting plays of the game.
11:12 It brings back the kick returner position. Keep an eye for the Eagles on a guy like,
11:17 I don't know, Jeanne who is electric with the football in his hands. Can you imagine
11:23 a big well Shipley back there together? Now, man, take a look under those legs and you
11:31 might be surprised. Oh man, my Jimmy sky is the limit here in Philadelphia next year.
11:38 People wake up, wake up. Listen, the New York Jets making an intriguing signing earlier
11:43 this week to recoat former running back for the Bears, who was one of the fastest guys
11:48 in the National Football League that based on injuries hasn't played in the NFL since
11:52 2020 the Jets bringing him back hoping to reincorporate him now with these new kickoff
11:58 rules. It brings back jobs. It brings back a skilled skilled position and it brings back
12:04 a phase of the game. That's why when Dave Doe was talking about this, what else do you
12:08 have a special teams coordinator for this is the fun of it all. All right, DRS now into
12:14 the wide receiver deals that we have seen this offseason. Most recently Jalen Waddle
12:19 agreeing to a three-year 84.7 and $5 million extension yesterday with the Miami Dolphins.
12:25 That's a little bit more than 28 mil annually on an average salary basis. That makes Jalen
12:31 Waddle the fourth highest paid receiver in the National Football League. The two guys
12:36 at the top of this list AJ Brown for the Eagles Amin Ra Saint Brown signing those extensions
12:42 this offseason. They are two of three wide receivers that make 30 mil a year or more
12:49 joining Tyreek Hill. So the Dolphins have wide receivers highest paid three and four
12:54 and the other two guys that lead all the National Football League side those deals this
12:59 offseason. The wide receiver market is being reset. We are seeing astronomical figures
13:05 and it just follows how much money there is in the National Football League. Yes, there's
13:10 a ton of money out here and we always see the the actual salary cap is we can't go over
13:15 that that just owners talk between owners to get it out to the public where we don't
13:19 have to spend this money, but the owners are so so rich now most of them. They're willing
13:24 to give out a lot of front and money here to keep their players happy and circumvent
13:28 the salary cap. You're taking a look at a position now. That's Dominic. It used to be
13:32 we talked about well, you got to have defensive ends. You got to have cornerbacks. You got
13:35 to have, you know quarterbacks obviously and then yes, the wide receivers will get paid,
13:39 but there's so many of them that we could just keep redrafting them that has since changed.
13:43 It is such an offensive League now that yes, you're always going to pay your quarterback,
13:47 but it seems now teams are willing to extend those wide receiver deals all the way down
13:52 to number twos and number threes here when it passed was just give me a number one wide
13:56 receiver will find number two and number three, but now you're seeing so many teams across
14:00 the NFL paying number twos like number ones and rightfully so but even though you take
14:04 a look do we look at any of these guys? I'm going to rush st. Brown AJ Brown Waddle Smith
14:08 and Collins and Pittman got that was a massive overpay. Those guys aren't worth it. No, they're
14:13 absolutely worth it. You watch football on a Sunday to Sunday basis here with these guys
14:17 are dominate that they absolutely deserve to be paid and there's other guys around the
14:21 League that are going to come into their own like a CD land. He's going to splash that
14:25 account of Jamar Chase eventually going to splash down Justin Jefferson is going to absolutely
14:31 reset the market when he goes. This is the new day and age of the NFL no longer owner
14:35 saying I can't pay two or three wide receivers. No you can now and people are doing it teams
14:40 are doing it and they're being successful doing it as well. Now you might say Jalen
14:46 Waddle fourth highest paid receiver in the National Football League at this moment. Listen,
14:51 I think Waterloo is great. I bet the over on his receiving yards props. He's as fast
14:55 as they come but paid is the fourth highest wide receiver in the National Football League.
14:59 He's not even in the top 10 or top 15. It doesn't matter. That's just where the market
15:04 is going and it should be shared as Jalen Waddle just completed your number three that
15:08 the extension of three years on top of the final two years of his rookie deal the annual
15:14 average over the cumulative five years is not north of 28 million dollars making him
15:19 the fourth highest paid wide out in the National Football League, but to Donnie's point at
15:24 a certain time in this summer in this offseason. This market is going to be reset again, whether
15:30 it's Jamar chase Justin Jefferson, maybe even CD lamb somebody is going to make damn near
15:36 35 million dollars per year and we are going to be astonished and rightfully so that's
15:41 a lot of money, but it is where the wide receiver market is going two to three years down the
15:46 line. It might look like a discount to have somebody like Amin Ross St. Brown at 30.2
15:51 million dollars per season. Exactly. You see AJ Brown three years 96 million Eagles just
15:57 gave him a monster deal to come over from Tennessee, which is the reason why he's still
16:00 not in Tennessee. So these teams also been are willing to say, you know what if you're
16:05 playing good, we'll keep extending you and pay you even more money. Why because you're
16:09 worth it. Hello Cincinnati Bengals because they are worth it. Get it.
16:16 You got to think if Jamar chase is the priority and gets his contract extension first. That
16:23 means the T Higgins time in since he is probably done. It would look kind of weird the disparity
16:29 there Higgins placed under the franchise tag back in March.