On this episode of the Greg Bedard Patriots Podcast, Nick Cattles and Greg discuss Jerod Mayo's press conference leading into camp in which Mayo discussed the plan at quarterback, and Nick peppers Greg with questions about the Patriots heading into camp. All that, and much more!
00:00 - Training camp week
04:41 - Drake Maye’s readiness
06:58 - Judon contract concerns
08:45 - Offensive line strategy
13:49 - Jerod Mayo's honesty
17:00 - Jonathan Jones update
20:15 - GameTime
22:20 - Quarterback Discussion
25:30 - Offensive Line Concerns
27:21 - Receiver Expectations
29:31 - Camp Surprises
34:12 - Draft Pick Compensation
36:31 - Giants' Regret
40:25 - 18th Game
************************************************
Patriots Content Brought to you by....
Gametime - https://gametime.co
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00:00 - Training camp week
04:41 - Drake Maye’s readiness
06:58 - Judon contract concerns
08:45 - Offensive line strategy
13:49 - Jerod Mayo's honesty
17:00 - Jonathan Jones update
20:15 - GameTime
22:20 - Quarterback Discussion
25:30 - Offensive Line Concerns
27:21 - Receiver Expectations
29:31 - Camp Surprises
34:12 - Draft Pick Compensation
36:31 - Giants' Regret
40:25 - 18th Game
************************************************
Patriots Content Brought to you by....
Gametime - https://gametime.co
Take the guesswork out of buying NBA tickets with Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code CLNS for $20 off your first purchase. Download Gametime today. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed. Terms apply.
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SportsTranscript
00:00He's Greg. I'm Nick. Of course it is training camp week. We've been waiting a long time
00:14for this week to actually happen. We are on the eve of training camp on this Tuesday afternoon.
00:19I remind you that the podcast is brought to you by our friends at game time. Take the
00:23guesswork out of buying baseball or even football tickets with the season rapidly approaching
00:28game time. Don't download the game time app, create an account, use code CLNS for 20 bucks
00:33off your first purchase. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, Greg,
00:39Gerard Mayo met with the media today, had a lot to say. Let's start with the quarterback situation.
00:45Talking about Jacoby Brissett, Mayo said, quote, pretty clear coming out of the spring
00:50that he is the starting quarterback. Do you think that's strong from Mayo or pretty much
00:56what you expected from the head coach? Uh, pretty much what I expected, but it was strong.
01:04I mean, I think Nick, and you can correct me if you sort of remember this differently, but
01:12towards the end of the off season practices, OTAs, mini camps, like it seemed like in some
01:18media circles, maybe locally, they thought may was really coming on and really making a push.
01:25I mean, I didn't see it that way on the field. May certainly had his moments and I thought he
01:30improved over the course of the off season. But, um, in terms of where he is right now,
01:37entering camp and things could change and, you know, the, the, what do we have like six, six
01:43weeks, eight weeks until the season starts, you know, a lot of things could change, but, you know,
01:49in my mind, I agree with Mayo that Jacoby is entrenched as the starting quarterback
01:56and something, uh, you know, both ways, Jacoby not playing well enough, maybe an injury,
02:03Drake coming on really improving rapidly, which I do not rule out that Jacoby is going to be the
02:11opening day starter for this team. And one thing, Nick, that I found interesting, I was listening
02:15to the GM shuffle with Michael Lombardi and they had on, uh, the chiefs GM, um,
02:22Brett Veach, his name's escaping me. Yes, Brett Veach. And they were talking about Patrick Mahomes
02:30and sort of how he sat as a rookie largely. I think he played the last regular season game
02:35of the season behind Alex Smith and sort of got his feet wet. And he was talking about how,
02:41look in hindsight with what Patrick's done, could he have started as a rookie and been successful?
02:47Yeah, but that wasn't the plan. That wasn't the plan that Andy Reed wanted. Now you can make the
02:52argument that the chiefs were in better position with Alex Smith and he had won a lot of games,
02:58might've even won a playoff game for the chiefs of the 49ers at that point. I don't know. I don't
03:02remember. I'd have to go back and look, but certainly Alex Smith was at least average at
03:08that point in time. Um, I certainly think there was a ceiling on what you could do with Alex
03:14Smith at that time. So it bought them a little time. So you could say it's a different situation,
03:19but Veach said the plan, Andy Reed's plan was for him to sit. And the key part of it to me, Nick,
03:26which I think people need to understand was he said it wasn't, it wasn't about what he could do
03:32physically because we all see what he can do, make plays on the move, his arm, his anticipation,
03:38all that stuff. It wasn't about that. It was about Andy Reed from a, wanted to get Patrick Mahomes
03:46ready to be an NFL starter from a mental standpoint. And he didn't think that Patrick
03:51Mahomes was going to be ready for all of that. And I think that's something that people need
03:56to keep in mind as we go forward that, yeah, you might see the physical skills from Drake May,
04:02but there's so much that goes into being an NFL quarterback and starting, you know, early on in
04:07the season, especially with a new regime, new offense, like, you know, new players,
04:13like everything's new. Um, I, I don't think it would be advantageous to put Drake in that
04:20position, at least early on in the season. We can revisit that after say like the first month,
04:25but I think like people need to keep that in mind. And I think that's what Mayo and Alex van Pelt
04:31are sort of getting at that. Drake may is talented. We all know that we all see it,
04:36but there's so much more that goes into being a starting caliber NFL quarterback that they don't
04:41want to rush the process with him. Now, Mayo did say, if a may comes out and lights it up,
04:46he could start. How much better do you think may would have to be then Brissett? How much better
04:53do you think he would have to be from what we saw at minicamp to actually start this season as QB one?
04:58Um, I think it would have to be, uh, it would have to be clear cut. It would have to be
05:05Drake. May is clearly better than Jacoby Brissett. And he has advanced as far as the mental side of
05:12the game that he is ready to take on, you know, you know, different blitzes and different coverages
05:19and all that stuff. And we're, we're not really going to know that. Um, the coaches are going to
05:23know that from the film, from the joint practice against the Eagles. You know, I think if you're
05:29looking for a barometer, a measuring stick for Drake may, and we saw this with Mack Jones,
05:35when he supplanted cam Newton, it was against Philly down there. Um, if, and there was also
05:42the giants practice here that were really where Mack Jones took the next step. And then he sort of,
05:49uh, you know, fell, uh, followed through on it against the Eagles. Like, I think if you're
05:54looking for, uh, a place in the schedule where you're like, all right, here's a good barometer
06:00on where Drake is. And does he have a chance to do this to me? It would probably be the
06:05joint session against the Eagles. All right, let's jump to some other players outside of
06:09the quarterback competition. Uh, God, chow Jude on two guys. We've talked about an awful lot.
06:14The last couple of weeks, uh, Mayo said they're here. He and Elliot will want them here. Uh,
06:20and he said that they are expected to practice. I underline the word expected,
06:25uh, but they are both here. Do we expect them to be out there tomorrow? Do we expect them to be
06:30active participants, Greg, with the proceedings? Now I'm just judging Matthew Jude on off of his
06:38words when it comes to, you know, practicing now, you know, we obviously went over what I reported
06:45and his response, which we also pointed out that that was a non-denial denial that he could have
06:51come out and said, I'm fine with my contract I'm playing this year. And I look forward to free
06:57agency after this year. He hasn't said anything close to that. So, and, and, you know, from Mayo's
07:02comments from Matthew Jude on retweeting a trade proposal that would have sent that would send, uh,
07:07Matthew Jude on to the 49ers and Matthew Jude on retweeted that. Um, I think, you know, let's,
07:13let's all be adults and let's acknowledge that Matthew Jude on and Devon got chow are not happy
07:18with their contracts. And as I reported, they are not going to play. They don't intend to play on
07:23those contracts. We'll see ultimately what happens. Um, and it's good that Mayo's at least
07:29putting the olive branch out there that they want to make something work. And it
07:32Mayo basically acknowledged, like something has to be done to appease these guys. And we're
07:39interested. They're interested now. It's about finding smart, common ground for both sides.
07:44We'll see whether that happens, but if I had to, if you were asking me right now,
07:50and you are asking me right now, by the way, um, will those guys practice? I would say Matthew
07:55Jude on practices in some manner, um, at least individual stuff, probably pick and choose team
08:03stuff that is involved with. It would surprise me if Devon got chow does anything. I think that,
08:09um, he is, he, he didn't go through this. Like Matthew did last year. Matthew admitted that he
08:17learned lessons from that. And maybe he blames his injury on part of the, you know, not doing
08:21enough in the ramp up to the season. And he said, he's not interested in doing that again.
08:26And so I'm, I'm going to take him at his word on that. God chow really hasn't said much,
08:31and he's much more of a businessman, at least outwardly than Jude on. So I could see,
08:37I think Jude on is going to take part in some form. I don't think God chow is going to do much
08:43of anything. Let's move to the offensive line. Um, Mayo said that, look, we're going to play
08:49the best five, whether that means Michael, when who's at guard or he's at tackle, we're going to
08:54play the best five guys. Is that what he should be saying? Is that the approach that you think
08:59is right? And also Greg, where do you think a one who ends up playing?
09:05I think he ends up playing right guard. I think they're going to, you know, push at least
09:10initially to allow Caden Wallace to be the right tackle position. He played in college. Um, it's
09:18not unusual. In fact, it's the, the normal course for a quote unquote, potential friend,
09:25potential left tackle as a rookie to start at right tackle. We've even seen it with the Patriots
09:31Nate soldier started at right tackle, then moved to left tackle. Matt light started at right tackle,
09:37then moved to left tackle. Um, this is the way things go that if, you know, and the Patriots
09:42obviously think Caden Wallace is, is talented enough to play, uh, to play tackle in the
09:49national football league. They think he has left tackle potential. So if he's, if he's that good
09:55and he's going to have to prove it on the, on the field this summer, um, I think that, I think that
10:00he starts at right tackle. I think a one who's at right guard to me in my mind, and I'm hopeful
10:06to write on this at some point this week, Nick, but I've been taking a look at some of the other
10:11guys, most notably Nick Leverett, who they brought in, who I think played for the Rams last
10:16year. It didn't play much at all, but he played a lot for the Buccaneers, uh, with Tom Brady,
10:22under center. And I've been watching, um, some of his film and in my mind, look, he,
10:30I would say that a core four was more impressive on film, um, and has more of a chance, but I do
10:37think Leverett, um, has his pluses and I wouldn't be surprised if there's a competition between
10:43city. So Nick Leverett and perhaps Michael Jordan, another reserve guard,
10:47maybe Layden Robinson gets in the mix. I think there's going to be competition for that left
10:52guard spot. And, uh, also Nick Leverett has played some center, including with Tom Brady.
10:58I watched, there was a Falcons game Buccaneers against the Falcons where he started at left
11:03guard because of an injury, he moved to center and look to do a decent job. So he has, he has
11:08some versatility there. You know, looking at the offensive line, it feels like, and maybe I'm wrong.
11:13You can correct me if I am, but it feels like, uh, you, you are a little bit higher on some of
11:18these guys than some of the other media. And, you know, I always think you watch the film and I know
11:24you get your balls busted over that, but, but you do watch offensive line play and you keep a close
11:29eye on it. So I feel somewhat optimistic after hearing your thoughts on, on guys like a core
11:35four and, and Leverett, and maybe they can put this thing together. And maybe Elliot Wolf wasn't
11:40as much of a mad scientist as just a smart football evaluator. And I was asked a question
11:46over the weekend on 95, when I was working with Saron. And I think I was also asked when I was
11:50doing a pod with Taylor Kyle's yesterday, like who is the most important member of that offensive
11:56line? To me, it's chooks a core four. Cause if a core of four works out at left tackle,
11:59everything else kind of falls into place and you can mix and match and make it work.
12:04So it'll be interesting to see, uh, when the pads come on, how those guys look, but hopefully,
12:09uh, they look, they look good and maybe crazy to talk a little optimistic here. I know people,
12:15I understand, but maybe just, maybe this offensive line ends up being at least decent. And we're not
12:21talking about a five alarm fire. Uh, one of the most, yeah, Nick, one thing on that to follow up
12:26real quick. Like I do, I am optimistic about core four, I think between city. So Nick Leverett,
12:34um, I haven't watched any of Michael Jordan yet, but I will try to do that at some point.
12:38I think they will figure out left guard, David Andrews. Everybody knows how I feel about David
12:43Andrews and you have Mike. Oh, when, who at right guard that we know, you know, when he's right and
12:49in shape and all that stuff. Um, he's one of the better guards in the league. I would say
12:56actually at this point in time, entering camp, I would say I'm more worried about right tackle
13:01than any other position on the line. I am not the biggest Caden Wallace fan. Um,
13:07I don't like players, especially offensive linemen. If there are lingering questions,
13:12which there are from the scouts that I've talked to about how much he likes football. Um,
13:17so, but I will say they have other options. Calvin Anderson is coming back. He's been a pro. He's
13:23played a lot in the league. Um, you know, you also have the Darien low and Tyrone Wheatley and,
13:29and again, it all comes back. They're like the offensive line. I don't care what you have
13:33on there. Um, coaching really matters on the offensive line. And you know, Scott Peters
13:40and Robert Kugler, uh, those guys are on the spot. I think there is enough talent there
13:45to give the Patriots at least a, an average offensive line in the NFL, if not better.
13:51And it's on them to make it work. And remember, we've talked about this before, just to add
13:56quickly, you can survive with four out of the five being at least good or average. You can help
14:02one lineman. So if, if right tackle is a question Mark, they need a little bit of help. They can do
14:06that. Uh, I thought one of the most fascinating comments by Gerard Mayo at this press conference
14:11today was about himself, Greg. He was talking about really his learning curve. And he said,
14:15quote, I will make mistakes and I will learn from those mistakes. Unquote. I personally loved
14:21hearing that from Mayo. He's I think being honest with people and he's, he's letting you know, look,
14:26there are going to be moments and there might be ugly moments, but I'm going to have to figure
14:30this thing out pretty much on the fly, but I promise you, I will learn from the mistakes that
14:35I make. We'll have to wait and see if that's true, but just your overall thought about how he's
14:39approaching this and some of that honesty that he had today. Yeah, I thought that was, I did
14:45think that was good and that was certainly notable and I, and I like how he's doing that now. I also
14:50think it's a little bit of, um, expectations setting. Um, you know, he, he is a very confident
14:59individual, but I do think him being able to, to know his limitations, that he's not going to light
15:04the world on fire, that he's not going to be Bill Belichick and his prime immediately. I, I, I don't
15:11think that's a negative. I think it, I think it's a positive and you know, as long as he keeps
15:16listening and he keeps learning, I, I think that's good. I think also Nick, another thing that like
15:21stood out to me, cause we've talked a lot about it, about him, you know, pushing back the camp
15:26start times, um, on practices and you sort of question that and the heat and all that stuff.
15:32And I thought his answer on that, to me, it was his best answer of the press conference. He talked
15:37about how, you know, when you practice in the morning, that puts a lot on the evening, uh,
15:42meetings and, you know, he doesn't think that's right for the players. He thinks it's better.
15:47Like maybe they cut out a little bit early on, uh, on the evening meetings. They certainly get
15:53what they need to get done. And then they come back and they meet again to reinforce what they
15:59just talked about, what they're about to practice. And to me that that's very smart. It's very sound
16:05thinking. And I liked his reasoning for that. Yeah. Twofold. Number one, you don't have as
16:10long of a day, right? If the players are getting in there at like, you know, nine, whatever. And
16:14there, the practice begins at nine 30 and you're there with the meetings later on into the evening.
16:19It's like, you're looking at the clock. You might start zoning out a little bit. So that's number
16:24one. Number two, you know, some guys might just not be great at retaining information late in the
16:29day. And then you turn around and you jump right into practice the next morning. Whereas you cut
16:33out a little early, like you said, Greg. So it's not as long of a day, get a little bit more rest.
16:38And then, you know, you come in in the morning and you talk, you have those meetings and it's
16:43right out to the practice field to do what you just talked about doing. So it makes sense to me.
16:48We'll see if it works out. Oh, one thing from the players, there wasn't a lot. I mean, Jacobi
16:52preset spoke. He said everything you would expect him to say, David Andrews, same thing,
16:56Jawan Bentley, same thing. But the one news where the item to me was Jonathan Jones coming
17:01out and saying that he's going to be a full go. So he sounds like he's ready to start
17:06training camp tomorrow. He is physically fit. He was out of mini camp according to him because of
17:12an off season surgery, but he is healthy. He's ready. And I don't know if you feel the same way,
17:17Greg, but outside cornerback to whoever plays opposite of Christian Gonzalez. That's one of
17:22the competitions that really interests me here early in camp. Yeah, for sure. I think as long
17:29as Jonathan Jones is healthy, I think he will certainly be the number two cornerback on the
17:35field. Again, there aren't too many defensive sets where you are just playing with two cornerbacks.
17:41So, you know, it's, it's really sort of moot, but, you know, if, if somebody emerges on the
17:48outside, say Alex Austin or Isaiah Bolden or Marcellus Dial or, you know, whoever, if they
17:55emerge, uh, in camp and allow Jonathan Jones to be on the inside. And we also have Marcus Jones.
18:01We haven't really talked much about, um, we'll see where he is at physically in training camp.
18:06I think that certainly puts the Patriots in good position on defense. It's the middle of the summer.
18:12It's hot, but you know what summer means to me? Baseball. I love going to the park. I love
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20:23download game time today, last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Let's jump into some
20:30camp preview questions. Some of the overarching big questions that I have for you, Greg,
20:34let's start with the head coach. What do we expect from Mayo's first camp here?
20:42I think it'll be a little bit more player friendly, certainly the schedule. You know,
20:50it seems like from the, from the schedule that we've already received. Um, and it's very limited.
20:56I think it's only through the second preseason game, which I think is when they can close up
21:00shop. Maybe it's the first reason game preseason game. I'm not sure, but from after their first
21:06preseason game, they have a long layoff. Like they're not going to really practice. Like they
21:10play on a Thursday. They're not really going to practice hard again until Monday. Now they are
21:15going to have something Sunday. That's not open to all the fans. It's open to the media.
21:20Um, but I assume that's going to be light. So that's, that's something that Bill Belichick
21:25had done in later years. Um, but I do think from, you know, what we saw in the spring,
21:33you know, some of Mayo's practices were long and hard. Now we've talked about, I didn't like
21:38some of the timing and, and, you know, how they utilized, how efficient it was. Um, so I'd like
21:44to see a little bit more on that side of it, but, um, you know, I, I don't think there's only so
21:52much you can do to be different in training camp. I've certainly been to some that stand out.
21:56Um, you know, Chip Kelly, when he was with the Eagles, I've never seen a more efficient
22:01training camp practice than what, uh, uh, Chip ran on different fields at the same time and all
22:08that stuff. Um, you can do, but most of them in general, they're all pretty much the same.
22:13And so, uh, I don't, I don't know how much we're going to be able to take from that.
22:19All right. Let's talk quarterback job. I know we talked about it a little bit earlier and
22:23how much may it would have to do to kind of leapfrog Brissett. Handicap it for me right now
22:27on the eve of training camp, who wins the quarterback job? Give me like a percentage
22:32Brissett versus may. Yep. I would say as of right now, Jacoby Brissett has an
22:4185, 85 to 90% chance to be the opening day starter. All right. So Greg is thinking
22:49Jacoby Brissett QB one to start the year. We'll see if he's a right. Yeah. And, and I will say,
22:54Nick, um, that's more about where the Patriots are in their program. It's no reflection on
23:01Jacoby or Drake. I just think, you know, and I had this discussion with Michael Holly last night
23:07where he was, you know, talking about all these different quarterbacks, like whether it was RG
23:11three or CJ Stroud or, you know, who, uh, there, there were a couple more examples that he had.
23:18And, you know, my point was like, you can't really compare those situations to where the
23:24Patriots are because whether it was in terms of coaching or personnel, all of those situations
23:32were a much, much further along. I mean, like you could say that the most app comparison
23:38in his mind would be the Texans because you brought in a new head coach, you have a rookie
23:43quarterback and boom, they're better. Yeah. But that's also leaving out that Nick Casario over
23:48multiple years had been accumulating talent, including a franchise left tackle, some really
23:53good receivers and running backs. And, you know, along with, you know, defensive guys that they,
23:59uh, you know, traded up for and loaded up on, um, including a cornerback and edge rusher.
24:05And, you know, so the Patriots are just in a different spot. And I think when you're talking
24:11about a new head coach, a new offensive philosophy, all together from where a lot of these
24:18guys, any of any returning veterans have been, I just think it's way too much. It's way too
24:24volatile for a rookie quarterback to come in and really like take the program to the next level.
24:32Like it, it would be, you could make that comparison say next year, if, if the Patriots
24:37drafted Drake may and Mayo was going on to a second year, Alex Van Pelt had a year under his belt.
24:42Elliot Wolf now just, you know, had a second draft where he's upping the thing and maybe he got a
24:47wide receiver and, you know, all that stuff. I just think the Patriots where they are, you know,
24:52they're sort of like they're, they're, it's a, at least offensively, it's a complete rebuild.
24:57And so from, for a rookie quarterback to come in and raise everybody up to me, it just, it's,
25:05it's not, it's not really in the realm of possibility, unless Drake may is just one of
25:11these unicorn guys that, you know, we all of a sudden he lifts everybody.
25:18Let's get back to the offensive line. I mentioned earlier about Chooks, you know,
25:22if, if Chooks holds his water at left tackle, a lot can fall into place for this offensive line.
25:27My question for you, Greg is what if Chooks doesn't work out at left tackle,
25:31how does the team handle that? How do they pivot?
25:35I think they just deal with it internally. You know, a couple of different ways. Is the rest of
25:42the offensive line really good, including right tackle, Caden Wallace or Wenu, whoever that is,
25:47is the rest of the other four guys playing at a really high level. And, you know, you could,
25:55you could help a core four a lot. You can say, all right, well, we're going to leave Caden Wallace
25:59alone. He's proven he's okay. We're going to get more help to the left side. We're going to put
26:03the tight end over there a lot. We're going to chip with the back. You can solve it that way.
26:08Or, you know, Calvin Anderson, the year before he came to New England, he started a lot of games
26:14for the Broncos at left tackle. Wasn't great, but he's done it. Is he more consistent? Do you think
26:21that he's better with help than a core four would be with help? Vidarian Lowe has a chance,
26:28a slight chance to do it. Tyrone Wheatley, or, you know, has Caden Wallace played well enough
26:34at right tackle where you say, you know what, we might as well start this process early. Let's put
26:40him over there and maybe put a core four back at right tackle. So, there's a bunch of different
26:44moves. If you're going to be a right tackle, you're going to have to be consistent. If you're
26:49different moves, if you're looking for an outside solution, ain't happening. Not enough tackles
26:56available around the league. Not enough good tackles, and anybody who's good, teams hold on to
27:01them, you know, like grim death. Yeah, you'd be talking about maybe, you know, Charles Leno's
27:07been mentioned. Humphries is another name. Donovan Smith, who hasn't been, you know,
27:13healthy in the last three years or so. Those are the names that you'd be picking from if you're
27:17looking at some kind of band-aid at left tackle. All right, let's jump to receiver. A lot of people
27:22talking about Pop Douglas, Greg. Pop Douglas this, Pop Douglas that. I think the expectations are
27:26pretty high. Are the Pop Douglas expectations maybe a little too high? Only in terms of
27:37his injury risk, which is a lot because he's a little guy and little guys don't last long
27:46in the National Football League unless they're,
27:49unless they have some sort of superhuman strength. Like, for example, like Tyreek Hill is,
27:56you know, built like a brick shithouse, especially in the lower body. And, you know, that doesn't
28:03look to be, you know, Pop Douglas. Doesn't look to be Marcus Jones. So you worry about those guys
28:10or guys like Tyquan Thornton. So to me, if Pop Douglas is healthy, and I do think that part of
28:17the, when you talk about like what his potential for the Patriots, I do think that usage is going
28:23to have to be something that they keep an eye on and think smartly about because he is a playmaker
28:30and you don't want to expose him too much to risk. But in my mind, I really, he looked great to me.
28:36To me, injuries are the only thing that can hold him from being a very effective player.
28:40The usage thing is interesting because Alex Van Pelt has talked about wanting to run the ball.
28:46Cleveland ran the ball a lot the last couple of years. They give Stevenson the extension.
28:51They bring in Gibson. And I wonder, you know, if they are going to go pretty big early on,
28:56on the early downs, and they try to establish that run and run the football as much as they want to,
29:00how much is Pop on the field? Because again, he's not a big guy. He's not going to be blocking
29:04dudes down field. So the usage is something to keep an eye on. All right. Your, your surprise of
29:10camp. Hmm. Good question. My surprise of camp. I don't know if I'm hoping against hope on this.
29:35Well, I'll say this. I think that a guy that we haven't seen much of yet due to a hamstring
29:42injury that he had coming out of the draft cycle, I think that the Sean Fenwick, the running back,
29:49I think he's going to be a preseason game hero. And I think he's going to make this team. And
29:58he's, he could get some, he could get some decent snaps this year.
30:03Let's flip it. Now your disappointment of camp.
30:08Um, I think it would have to be,
30:18let's see. I think I'm going to go with, I, I mean, the bar's pretty low on this player.
30:27Um, so I don't, well, I mean, guys that I expect to underachieve Taekwon juju, um,
30:35KJ Osborne would probably be my guy after what we saw in the off season practices. I know they
30:40have high hopes for them. Um, but I hope he comes to training camp with stick them on his hands,
30:46because that was not the case in the preseason. And I do think he's a good player and I do think
30:52he can help this team. He's just got to catch the ball better. All right. I have a few more
30:56questions for Greg outside of just the, uh, Patriots. But first I remind you
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31:14Many of you know it by now, 50 bucks for the year, uh, Bidar Giardi tag teaming on the Patriots
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31:24this season. Okay. A couple of, uh, NFL things out there today. Let's start with Brennan IU.
31:29So IU is reporting to training camp according to a Mike Garofalo and the NFL network.
31:34Uh, John Lynch just told reporters a few moments ago that, uh, they will keep working on a deal
31:40for IU quote. Brandon's a big part of our team and we expect he will be here. He will be this
31:46year. Unquote, uh, surprise at all. Or can we just finally put this IU thing to bed?
31:52Yeah, I think we need to put it to bed. I mean, you know, one thing that we haven't talked about
31:57is just the reality of the situation. I understand Brandon IU wants to get paid,
32:02but there are contract mechanisms that his union agreed to that the 49ers are following along.
32:10Like Brandon IU is playing on the fifth year option this year, like $14 million. Like it's,
32:14you know, it's not what he wants. You know, like we, there have been reports that the Patriots
32:20were willing to pay him $28 million a year, but it is what it is. And they also have control the
32:27next year if they want to franchise tag them, um, you know, which would probably be over $20
32:33million a year. And so, um, I understand where he's coming from to me that he's reporting.
32:39We'll see if he takes part. I doubt that he does, but we'll see, but that he's reporting at least,
32:46you know, it can be viewed as an olive branch with the team and maybe an indication of,
32:50you know, a show of good faith that let's, let's make something happen. And, you know,
32:55like I've been saying from the beginning, the San Francisco 49ers, unless they can get somebody
33:01who is just as good or better than Brandon IU, which probably wouldn't happen until next off
33:06season in the draft, he is there. They don't have anybody else like him. He's a key to their
33:11offense. Um, you know, one of the big keys and this team is pushing for a super bowl.
33:16They've been knocking on the door, went to the super bowl last year. They want to win it. They
33:20want to win title number six. They've been sitting on five for a long time and that's not going to
33:26happen. If they trade Brandon IU and they have nobody else ready to go, that's like him. And
33:32that's not likely to happen. So yeah, I think people need to really put that to bed.
33:38Quick follow-up here. Just because the report you brought up a pro football talk over the weekend,
33:43reporting that the Patriots were one of five teams willing to pay 28 million per year for IU got
33:48draft time going back in April and that the Patriots offered a second round pick, which
33:52obviously was pick number 34. Just quickly. Uh, do you think that offer from Elliot Wolf was fair?
33:59Do you think he should have offered more or do you think it was too much to offer?
34:03Uh, I think it was a fair offer. I mean, it was basically sort of like a first round pick. Um,
34:15and yeah, I think it was a fair, I think it was a fair offer given that the, you know,
34:21there's the draft pick compensation, but there's also, they have to pay him a new contract. They
34:24have to pay him $28 million a year. Probably would have been, I don't know, 50 anywhere from
34:30like 60 to $70 million guaranteed. So you factor in, you know, all of that. Now, if, if the 40,
34:38now my understanding is that that's what the, the Patriots, you were sort of like, you know,
34:45trolling offering, like being like, all right, well, let's throw this out there. And the 49ers
34:50just sort of shut everything down. Now, if the 49ers were like, maybe what about X, Y, or Z?
34:59Like, I think the Patriots, I think Elliot Wolf would have been interested in that and would
35:03have furthered the conversation and maybe throwing a Jude on, or, you know, maybe a future pick or
35:08what have you. I think they would have been interested in that. I just think the 49ers
35:13shut it down. Hard knocks new episode coming out tonight. The NFL had a clip on a Twitter
35:21of Joe Shane, giving Elliot Wolf a phone call four and a half hours before the NFL draft began
35:27in April, trying to pry that third pick from Wolf and Wolf kind of says, well, you know, if,
35:37if you're going to give me a one, two, three this year or a one, two, and then he stops himself and
35:41says, obviously I'm exaggerating, exaggerating a little bit. Shane kind of goes back at them.
35:48And it seems like there could have been an edit somewhere in the middle of this,
35:51but it ends with Wolf telling Shane, it would have to be significant. It would have to be a
35:56significant offer situation that we have probably just staying and sticking and picking a quarterback
36:02there, uh, watching that conversation. I don't know if that's anything new to you, but watching
36:09it, Greg, and listening to it, do you kind of walk away feeling better about Drake may knowing that
36:14the giants were absolutely trying to chase him. And that Wolf did kind of draw the line at, Hey,
36:20man, if, if you want this pick, you better be bringing the bag to us because we're not going
36:25to trade it otherwise. Yeah. If, if Brian day ball really wants a quarterback, um,
36:34you know, I'm all ears and, you know, I'm on board cause I have a lot of respect for Dave's
36:38and what he's done in his track record sort of speaks for itself. And so, um, you know, I,
36:44I do think he saw a lot of Josh Allen and Drake may, um, maybe even, uh, less downside than Josh
36:52Allen, not as quite the bucking Bronco that Josh Allen was when he came into the league.
36:57Um, but you know, that it just, you know, reinforces my belief in sort of what we talked
37:03about and like, you know, I'd push back against the Felgers of the world who would say, you know,
37:07why are you even listening? Like, why are, if you really believe in the quarterback,
37:11why are you even listening? And I was like, because somebody might get stupid. I mean,
37:15somebody, and I think I used the analogy. I said, if somebody offers you the Herschel Walker trade,
37:21like you got to think about it. You got to think about, you know, if somebody gets nuts
37:26and they're so horny for Drake may that they're like, we're going to offer you three number one
37:31picks and it's the giants and they have Daniel Jones, a quarterback. And you know, from what
37:38we've seen on hard knocks, not exactly a buttoned up well-run organization at this point in the
37:44front office. Yeah. You got to think about it. You got to think about it long and hard. And
37:48that basically reinforces what I said all along. I said, the Patriots are going to pick a
37:53quarterback, likely Drake may, unless they are completely blown out of the water on a deal that
38:00could reshape the franchise and they can't turn it down. This is, you know, interesting sliding
38:06doors moment, but I do wonder, you know, the giants, they traded one of their second round
38:10picks for, for Brian Burns in March. And I do wonder, you know, if they waited to make a move
38:15like that and had that second round pick, it was number 39, you know, would that have been a
38:21sweetener that Shane could have offered a Wolf and maybe Wolf would have moved on that if it was,
38:26you know, six and the draft and then pick 39 and then like a future first, because the reports are
38:32that Shane offered, I think it was a first this year and like the next year's first or whatever,
38:37which that's just not going to get it done. You do wonder if there might be some regret from the
38:41giants, especially if Daniel Jones is a puddle, man, maybe we should have held onto that second
38:46round pick and we would have had something else as a carrot to kind of dangle in front of Elliot
38:50Wolf. And instead we, we burnt that pick on, on. Yeah. And I will say, I mean, that's Nick,
38:56that's that. And, and remember the first conversation that they showed on hard knocks
39:00at the combine and Wolf was like, where are you guys six? And he was like, that's a good spot.
39:08And, you know, dropping, getting all that and just dropping down to six and okay. So you get the
39:13fourth quarterback. And from what I understand, you know, whether it was the top three, JJ
39:20McCarthy, or even Pennix, the Patriots had a level of comfort with all of them. And you, you know,
39:25you get that, you get that hall, you get say JJ McCarthy at six, you know, you have 34, you would
39:34now have 36 or whatever, 39. Like you could have gotten a wide receiver. You could have gotten a
39:40tackle. You could like, you know, it's, and still been in a similar spot, but you know, unless they
39:46were going to get crazy, you know, you got to go with the guy that you have the most conviction on.
39:51And when you extend that conversation, you know, if that did kind of happen and you go down that
39:56road, we know that we'll try to trade back into the first round for a receiver. Would he have been
40:01more aggressive with 34 and then willing to give up another pick because he had 39, or would he
40:06offer nine and another pick to move up into the first round? Maybe he would have had more
40:10ammunition, obviously with that trade. So maybe he does get back into the first round. It's an
40:15interesting, like I said, sliding doors moment. Last one for you, Greg, today, NFL, big picture.
40:20We find out that the NFL PA and the NFL are in heavy talks about an 18th game. Is this only a
40:26matter of time? Yes. And I've always believed that, um, you know, when they went to 17,
40:34even probably before that, I said, you know, the NFL is going to go to 18 games at some point.
40:39It's only a matter of time. And as long as they get the two, the players get the two bye weeks
40:44as part of it, let's go. What's one more week and another week of rest involved. And we've
40:50heard other players say that like, yeah, it's it, the NFL will be playing 18 games and most
40:56likely with two buys, uh, in short order.