2 Pros and a Cup of JoeThursday on 2 Pros and a Cup of Joe, the Pacers take a 2-1 lead over the Thunder in the Finals. Steelers acknowledge a new gameplan with Rodgers in house. And NFL Insider Albert Breer talks about the biggest headlines from minicamp.
This is the best of two pros and a couple Joe with Lamar arings and rating win and Jonas Knox on Fox Furs Radio.
Hey, you know what, which will be a theme for this show that we will point out. Look who decided to show up and this time we're talking about the NBA Finals. They were back last night? Are you sure they were back last night? And a little bit of a surprising result I think for some people going into the game, Indiana was a five and a half point underdog. But they get it done. And as we've seen the stat thrown up before, anytime there's a series in the NBA Finals, it's tied at one apiece, the team that wins Game three wins the NBA Finals eighty percent of the time. So the Indiana Pacers in a good spot following.
That win last night. They played well. I think they played like a team that does not believe whatever other people believe. They're not buying into the hype, so to speak, of what they feel these other guys are are bringing to the table. And I you know, you got to give them a lot of credit because, okay, see is what what people think they are. I just think that Indiana is better than what people give them, you know, credit for, So there may they've made it more than just a series. It's it's a competitive deal. Uh. If if OKAC is to as you just mentioned the stat if ok c uh is to to really have a a real chance, they gotta get one in Indiana. They gotta grab one in Indiana if they go back to Oka C with a too two tie. And you know, I'll say this, who wins the series? I don't know. I'm I'm I went with okay See to win the series, but I did go with Indiana to win the game last night. But going into a game four situation where it's it's uh, game five, excuse wait no, no two to one right? Two one? Yeah, game four, it's just I think it's very critical for for okay See, but it's also very critical for the NBA as well. Right, there's a lot riding on this in terms of relevance, maybe interest, maybe, I mean, there are a lot of things out there are are at stakecare if Indiana were to win the next game, how many people do you think are gonna watch the next one? So this could potentially be maybe the last game that you get real interest in If OKAC decides to lay.
An egg in the next game, it would be whove the NBA to have a back and forth series.
It certainly would because it provides a much better story line to everything that's going on UH in a series. Again where we've discussed it heading into the series, we discussed it as a potential UH series where you don't have the type of a brand power to really drive the viewership of the series, the most important series of the season for for the NBA. So but again, give give Halliburton props. I'm always wanted to to give props elsewhere when it's not Halliburton. So I'm gonna give him his his props. Today. He showed up in a major, major way, UH, and he was the MVP of that game, and and so they needed that, and they'll need that moving forward if they're if they're going to have a chance to pull pull through in the series.
I mean, some would say he's the captain now made him from being honest.
I mean, you know, he had a much he had a much louder, a much bigger game than what he usually has. But make no mistake about it, the captain of the ship is still on the ship. You know, Pascal is still he's still a part of of what's going on. I mean, he he didn't have his regular like you know, obviously big, big, big game, but he didn't have a bad game. I mean, you know, he's right there. I mean he was only one point off of off of Halliburton. You know, Halliburton had twenty two, Pascal had twenty one. You know, he had four assists Pascal had I mean has got past Halliburton had eleven assists. Where to me, that's where the separation took place was it's just his ability to be able to make great decisions and put other guys in positions to have an impact on the game. I mean there were some some really you know, there were some fine moments for them, Benedict, you know, and he had a really good game. And if he can continue to play that way, maybe he's the unsung hero of the series. You know, Topping didn't had a lot of points, but you know, he had some explosive moments that you could say set the tone for the Pacers and and at moments in time like really you know, showed that maybe he was a little bit more athletically inclined than guys on on the OKC team. But I think you had a lot of unsung heroes, and Indiana showed that they not only can play with Oka see, but they can beat them. They can win this series.
You mentioned Tyres Halliburton. There's been some discussion about maybe he's not being as aggressive as he needs to be, and maybe he's got to do a little bit more. He talked about the discussion surrounding his performance early in the finals aft last night after the win.
The commentary is always going to be what it is.
You know, most of the.
Time, the talking heads on them major platforms, I couldn't care less, honestly, Like what do they really know about basketball? The commentary is what it is. At this point, you know, it doesn't matter. You know, we're here in the NBA Finals, two wins away from an NBA championship. So you just got to stay with it, put my head down and keep working and as a group, we just got to keep learning from our mistakes, see where we can get better and take it a day at time.
How about that? People, all these platforms, how you're talking about huh?
How about that? Clearly Caliburton isn't the only one that feels that way. Sometimes your own colleagues feel that way.
Yes, these people, uh so the Yeah, Like I was, I was thinking about the situation involving just sort of the overall look of this series and it and I made mention of this before that it's kind of nice that you don't have drama surrounding the finals. There's not all this discussion afterwards. We're just really Actually, I think a lot of people are getting to know these teams who are maybe casuals or just tuning in. But also I think they're starting to see that, well, this is just really good basketball. Like the closing stretch the fourth quarter last night, that was really good basketball.
You saw it.
You saw like Miles Turner did not have a good game offensively, but he did up the wind puppet multiple times and ended up making plays down the stretch. And so you look at it, you go, these are really good individual performances and good team performances from the Indiana standpoint. But I look at it and I go, it's almost as if this finals people don't really have a rooting interest. And that's not a bad thing, because I don't know anybody that looks at this and is pounding the table. Gotta have an OKC win or pounding the table, Gotta have an Indiana win like Lebron James butters the bread for everybody. If Lebron's in the finals, you're gonna get a polarizing reaction one way or the other. If the Celtics are in your going to get a polarizing reaction. The Lakers, the Knicks, Well, I said the Knicks, they'll never be in the finals. But the point is there's there's generally somebody that you can like surround your hot take around, and this finals doesn't have that. It like, okay, see more than likely comes out and wins Game four, and the series gets stretched, and we go to six, we go to seven games, and I think it's just gonna be about the basketball. It's not going to be about which talking head that Tyrese Haliburton is referring to that says, you know, well, we've got to have this because it's better for the league. I think the league looks at it and goes either one that wins. It's like, we're not going to be dependent on that for storylines that are going to carry us through. We're just seeing really good basketball, really underrated teams that are getting a platform and a stage that they've never had before, maybe ever in the history of their organizations other than a couple of times, and that was years and years ago. So I think there's a lot of people discussing the Finals that aren't used to the fact that we don't have a singular player or a singular storyline to focus on. Instead, we just got a look at good basketball.
I mean, that's an interesting way of looking at it, and that that could very well be what the situation in the scenario is. I would I would tend to offer the approach that Haliburton is taking is the right one. You know, whether talking hits know enough about basketball or know what they're talking about or not, it's of no consequence. He's got to keep his head down, he's got to stay focused because I do know for one hundred percent none of those people he's referring to are going to dictate a win or a loss for Indiana or for Oka. See I do know that for one hundred percent certain Like I won't debate that one with anyone. But with that being said, the talking heads that he's he's referring to a lot of them do know about sports, you know, and a lot of them know about games, and they may not know it to the depth of a guy that's playing the game or a coach or a GM They may not know it to that degree, but they don't have to. That's not their burden to carry to to know it. More from the standpoint of what the athlete knows it, it's what they see and what their opinions are on what they see. And then now it's a fans opportunity to do the same exact thing, because you could say the same exact thing about fans. You know, some of them know it because they play it. They're they're enthusiasts of it. Some people are more passive and just aren't you know, into it as deep in as far as some real fanatical type of people that not only watch it but play it or you know, play it for leisure, still are playing actively, you know, could be in college, whatever it may be. I just think what it ultimately comes down to more so than you know, talking about a team per se, like oh this team can't do this, or oh Halliburton is overrated. I think what's more important here, Jonas, is what you're talking about is the opportunity to take in the sport. Are you enjoying the show? Are you enjoying watching the production of what takes place and the quality of play that takes place? Are you doing that because you can? There has not been a flooding of storylines in terms of big names. They have been pushing Halliburton now that he's he's placed himself in that scenario show dad. There's that he had his little you know, his little banner with with his son's you know, on his his likeness on there. Okay, that's the storyline. Haliburton and his dad, great SGA is a storyline. But again, as you mentioned, none of these guys are are truly established megastars in terms of mainstream America mainstream fans.
It's like Middle America mom and pop basketball, like the like. There's no big time, big market feel and splash all that stuff. To your point, there's just you just got to enjoy it, like you can't. You can't really sink your teeth into well, what what does this mean for so and so's future after the series is over? And who's uh so? Is somebody getting looked at for another? Get No, there's none of that you just get to enjoy really good basketball and the two best teams in the playoffs, and I for the NBA's sake, for everybody's, for our sake, based on what we've seen, aren't you hoping it goes seven games? Look, I'd love to see a seven game series with these two the way they match up.
Well, it's fled from the NBA. Aren't you trying to take full advantage of what you're talking about? Like we talk about the comparisons between the NBA and the NFL a lot, and this is something leading up to and maybe this is why the advantage in my estimation goes towards football, because it's only one game and you're able to get the build up of it. You're you're able to really get to develop storylines and so you can create what you wanted to look and feel like in a lot of ways. If you're the NFL, you can maneuver and plan it. It has just as much to do with the city where the game is being played. I mean, there's a lot that goes into it. If I'm the NBA, how do I find a way to galvanize what it is we have going on? Especially when we have a matchup with It doesn't have you know, it doesn't boast a Lebron James. It doesn't, you know, give you a New York Knicks team or or Tatum, you know in in in Boston or Brown. How do you find a way to make the storyline so strong and so real that you're you're viewing audience wants to consume it. I had to do radio tonight and there I was watching a show I think it's called The Animal Kingdom, the Animal Kingdom or whatever's on Netflix. I drink a Celsius to to watch the the entire basketball game without falling asleep because I was getting tired and I had to burst the energy. But I've been watching that series Animal Kingdom, and the storyline is so wild. It's almost like a spin off of Point Break. That's what I feel like, you know, that's that's what took place. Uh want to say, Regina King is that that's her name. I believe she's she's a producer, she's I know she's an actress. I just don't. I feel like I'm messing up her name, but I'm gonna get it right. But anyways, it's the storyline was so good it is Regina King. Uh, the storyline is so good?
What's up?
Yeah, she's pretty good. She's talented. She's not only a talented actress actress, but she certainly is a talented producer too. Director. Excuse me, you have to be able to do this if you're the NBA. Make it so that people don't want to leave. Like I was, like, I gotta go to sleep, I gotta go to sleep, Gotta do the show. Da da da this, that and the other. And it's like, man, that's crazy. What just happened. Dude almost burnt his whole house down. He put the weed butt, he put the roach down, and he got caught up and now the house is on fire. Dang, what's gonna happen next? And I found myself just continuing and continuing to watch the show. And that's what the end the NBA has to do. The NFL is masterful there. They're surgical with creating a storyline, storylines plural. Look at what they did with shador In in the in the draft. They are surgical with finding something that is going to be compelling enough for not only your hardcore fans that know exactly what's going on, but it also serves that fan that may not have that hardcore approach. And that's where to me, if you're asking me, what is one of my major takeaways from seeing an Indiana Oklahoma City Final is where? Where is the where is the I guess angles in which it's going to keep the attention of the average sports fans.
Just it's just good basketball, and I don't think I don't think that is that good enough. I don't know, and probably not.
It's for a lot of it's most likely it's not.
But I don't think people are used to this version of an NBA series matchup because normally it's easy. Well, it's Lebron involved, it's somebody else involved that you can find a storyline. It's a big market, this one. So we just watch the games and enjoy really good, high level basketball. Yeah, pretty much, Okay. I just I don't think this series is meant for hot take culture. It's just not meant for hot take culture, and I don't and I don't think that people really know how to react to it other than just to admire good basketball, which is again brand.
If you're making the brand more attractive through other ways of hitting your your your viewing audience and extending expanding beyond that. You got to find those storylines and you got to really, really really drive them home. If you're wanting the NBA brand to be as strong as it is the NBA superstars that you have, you know it's a superstar driven league, but when you have markets that have stars, but they're not the type of superstars notably known established, which these are the moments in time where they do get established and you create a following and more attention to it, there should still be a lot more depth to what's taking place in terms of how you're building your storyline, because that ultimately builds the storyline of how you're looking at the NBA season next year and seasons beyond, how you're looking at the draft, how you're looking at the new prospects. It's so much that goes into what the NFL has been able to create and build, and a lot of that has to do with the media coverage and the media attention. So, for what it's worth, while Halliburton has the right approach to saying, I don't care what people that don't know basketball are saying, the NBA had better be figuring out storylines that make it relevant to those very people, because those are the one Those are the people that are going to touch their followings, and the people who would listen to them are going to actually, you know, pay attention to what's being presented to them, and that could be the difference maker in wanting to watch the series, wanting to watch a game, wanting to watch a player versus the other. Not one two, not my problem. We got football right around the corner. They can figure that out. Well, you guys got work to do.
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington, and Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern three am Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app. So.
I don't know if you heard the news. Aaron Rodgers is the new quarterback in Pittsburgh for the Steelers. He's the guy there, the offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith. He spoke to the media. He said, amongst other things, look, we didn't bring Aaron Rodgers in here and signed dk Metcalf for all that money to go run the wishbone. But he did talk about evolving as an offense from one year to the next here was Arthur Smith.
We've evolved every year, and you know you have to so a lot of times out of necessity. It really, you know, I had a lot of different quarterbacks with a lot of different skill sets. In our job, especially as a coach, is you know, to play to the shrinks of your players. I mean, we have our foundation things that don't change. But whether you lean into certain schemes you have to hear you adapt again to the personnel you've got. That's what we try to do and then ultimately win games and set guys up for successful there.
And so one of the things that's been pointed out is that Rogers last year was with the Jets team that didn't run the ball all that much. They relied on the pass. A lot of that may have been dictated by score. They could have been down in games because they weren't good. Conversely, you had the Steelers who ran the ball I think it was fourth most in the entire NFL. They weren't all that efficient, you know, as far as yards per carry and whatnot. But now you've got Arthur Smith, who's got Aaron Rodgers there. Clearly he's probably maybe gonna trust the passing offense a little bit more than he did last year. But when I hear Arthur Smith talk, I don't know if if you get the same read I do. I just think he's probably relieved not to have Russell Wilson there anymore.
To be honest with you.
I just I think that's for him. He's like, look, I wanted to put Justin Fields back in. I was overruled by Mike Tomlin. As long as it's not Russ, I'll take my chances with Aaron Rodgers and DK metcalf as opposed to last year.
I'm gonna I'm gonna admit that this isn't my take because I don't know it this way, but yeah, I feel like it's relevant. And I'll give credit to Plexico on this because he's played for them. He's been there. He understands that he's played for Tomlins regime, even though it's not the same offensive coordinator. He said they're going to run. The biggest, the biggest determining factor of what's going to happen with the Steelers is are they going to play good enough defense and are they going to establish the run enough and have enough success with the run in order to be able to dictate and control the tempo of the game and win the game. It's a battle of attrition approach. I will venture to add to that as a fan that I believe that was Bill Coward's approach. That's why he had the backs that he had then. I believe that was Chuck Knowles approach. That's why he had the running backs that he had back then. And I believe that that has continued to be the calling card of the Pittsburgh Steelers. I don't see that changing. I really don't. And you know, Arthur can say, you know all he wants about you don't bring in Aaron Rodgers and DK Metcalf to do that, But there have been plenty of duos that you can say that you can use that where you would say that that could be your your logic. I mean, so, you know, I don't buy that. I really don't. I don't buy the idea that they're just going to go past happy with having Aaron Rodgers there. But what will be interesting to see is what can they establish, what can they develop with having the type of skills set, the type of wisdom and understanding that that Aaron Rodgers brings to the position. As well as brings to the understanding of what an offensive scheme can a successful one can look like, what what defenses are trying to do. How will that help the other players on the field and on the unit. I think that there are a lot of asset value connected to bringing in Aaron Rodgers, but it's still wait and see approach if you ask me. And the biggest wait and see is one, it can Aaron Rodgers actually be the quarterback that he wants was or a variation that leads to success for the Steelers? And two, are the Pittsburgh Steelers actually willing to go away from an identity that has dominated what the Pittsburgh Steelers have been since basically the beginning of time, which is they're a run first team. They're a run heavy team, and that's what they work to do. They batter round, they they grind it out, and they work to open up their offense through their run. Can that change? I think that's a question that if your band attention to Pittsburgh and paying attention to what Aaron Rodgers is able to do, you're we're going to see if there's going to be some fleck in terms of the approach of the way they they're playing offense.
I mean, you'd think at this stage of his career they'd want to try and have give as much opportunity to run the football as possible to keep him up right so where he's not having good Look, he got banged up last year with the Jets because he was throwing it so often. He got roughed up in the game over and I think it was London where they played early in the year. It's not like he got through last year and he was just dealing with the Achilles or whatnot. Remember there was the story about, you know, he didn't want to miss any time. He was dead set on wanting to play and start every game, and so he was working through injuries and net injuries pop up. That was one of the other storylines that was trickling out of New York at the time. So last year he dealt with other stuff outside of just coming back from the Achilles. If you're Arthur Smith and your Mike tom are like, let's take I mean, yeah, we've got DK metcalf. I mean, that's a nice option to have for him. But if you can establish the run, as you mentioned, like we've whenever they've had success historically. It's always been through that. Like, why would you drop him back and have them throw fifty times a game if you can be more well balanced and you can rely on that defense that you talked about, which is still capable of playing at a high level. And also in that division, you really want to get in a shootout with Joe Burrow, like you really want to get in a shootout with Lamar Jackson, Like you really want to go back and forth with you know, whatever team in the AFC you have to deal with throughout the course of the year. It makes all the sense in the world. You'd want to run games that you keep your forty plus year old quarterback healthy and you're not having to go run and gun with other teams in the conference that that are more well equipped to do. That makes makes sense.
You know, you have a running backs, back committee backfield, and it's not your starter was an undrafted football player, your second string player was a third round draft pick. I mean it's you know, to me when you look at what they have in the backfield, and I don't want this to come across as any shade to you know, the guys that they have and Warren Jalen Warren and Caleb Johnson. Uh but I mean, I look at it. Uh, I just look at it. And Trey Sermon is there as well. I just I just look at it, like I get it. Like Naji Harris could have been a better back for them. You would have anticipated him being a better back for the Steelers. It just didn't materialize that way. But for the most part, you've always had a guy that can get it done, whether it be Le'Veon Bell, whether it was Jerome Bettis, you know, you know.
Parker, Willie Parker, which.
He was an obscure guy, I mean, and and had some good, good moments. But you've always had a guy that could fit what the Pittsburgh Steller have needed. It'll be interesting to see if these guys can carry that type of load because they're not marquee name guys. They're not known guys at that position. And you've usually had an obscure guy that goes along with a high profile guy that's been in the back the backfield for the Steelers, and that doesn't seem, at least today to be the case for them now. So maybe that's an indication that they are going to go to the air more than what they have and be more pass dominant, more pass havy than what they've ever been. But you still got to have running backs. And if I'm the Pittsburgh Steelers and that's been their DNA as to how they approach what they're doing, I think you still got to have backs that can can do what you see take like you have a mirror image of a team in the Pennsylvania teams. So when you look at where the Eagles are right now, that's generally what you have. When you're looking out of Pittsburgh Steelers team. You have a Saquon Barkley type of back in the backfield, you have a good, strong offensive front. You have a quarterback that can manage the games, at the least manage the game. Then you have a defense that can play defense. Strong up front, linebackers that can run big, safeties that can bring big hits, and play like light linebackers and corners that are fairly good. That's generally the recipe you see. You see it play out in Baltimore. They are mirror images of in likeness of what they want to do. While Lamar Jackson is a prolific passer, they still want to establish that run and you have King Henry.
To do that.
You have receivers, you have your tight end. That's what Pittsburgh does. They use their tight ends historically, you know, from Bruner to Heath to now you know Friar move you use your tight ends. So there is a to me, there's a formula that has been developed in the in the AFC North and even even Cincinnati, even Cleveland follow that model. I mean, you think about Nick Chubb, you think about mixings, you know, those type of running backs, and then you see there are skilled receivers and if you're able to get an elite quarterback of Joe Burrow, a Lamar Jackson, they were hoping a Deshaun Watson in Cleveland, they were hoping for a Kenny Pickett in Pittsburgh, or even at the time maybe a Mason Rudolph. You don't you know, those didn't turn out to be elites, but two of those those teams have elite quarterbacks and yet and still running the football was a major part of the success. And the formula of what it is that they do makes all the sense.
I mean, why send him out there to take some battering, take some hits when you can roll out a running attack and bring back the old Pittsburgh Steelers Little Bam Morris, little Barry Foster back in the day, Tim Worley, damn right.
Yeah, Meryl Hodge, Merril Hodge, Yeah. Man.
Be sure to catch live editions of Two Pros and a Cup of Joe with Brady Quinn, LeVar Errington and Jonas Knox weekdays at six am Eastern, three am Pacific.
We welcome in the Man himself, a Thursday tradition here on the show. He is Albert Breer, Senior NFL reporter, lead content strategist at the MMQB, Amazon NFL on Prime Insider, and you can get him on X at Albert Brier a B good morning, how you doing.
So?
One to ask you with the no shows at camp, whether it be TJ. Watt, Trey Hendrickson, Terry McLaurin, which of these are you most concerned? Is not going to result in a deal with his current team And.
It's probably all well, But like the Trey Hendricksons thing, I think it's probably the most tenuous spot because it's lasted three off seasons now. They did the band aid deal two years ago last year and make any progress, and now you know, the markets changed that position where you know, like I think you have some pretty decent comps and Max Crosby and and danil Hunter getting deals later in their careers better in the mid thirties, you know, And so the Bengals getting there. What does the structure look like? Is it more like the Chamar Chase structure? Is it more like the Tea Higgins structure? The thing is like complicated in a lot of different ways. And you know, on on on one side, you've got a team that you know obviously has this reputation that on the other side, you've got a player who probably isn't going to be looking to give a team any discount. So I think that one's probably the most tenuous and the least predictable right now.
What about Micah, Like it just seems like it's kind of a low impact, low key type of deal. I think everybody knows there's a big deal that's imminent. But how big is it? Ab Like, should people be bracing and for the largest contract, like bigger than a moles Garrett? Does it fall short of that?
Like?
Where where do you see this? You know, shaping up and landing?
So I mean, I think it should probably land north of miles Garrett. You know, I think at this point you're probably talking about like an average per years that starts with the four and not a Briand part of that the result them waiting as long as they did, you know, like the markets changed and and that's the risk of waiting, of course, I dude, I don't know why the Cowboys keep doing this both far like, but you know, they went down the throad with Ceedee Lamb. They went down the road with I mean, they just wait and wait and wait in the last possible minute, and that they wind up having made an attacks and so you know, I I as as weird as that negotiation and the whole thing between Mike and the Cowboys to spin at time over the last year. I just I don't see Jerry Watt in a way or taking a hard letty. I just think that this is I mean, to me, at least like at some point they're going to get something done. And whether that's now or on September fifth, you know, I think it should matter more than it does to the Cowboys. But we saw their willingness to go that deep into it with Ceedee Lamb. And Dak Prescott last year. They've got a history of this sort of thing, of course, and you know, uh, you sort of wish that they could have been more aggressive with something like this, like, because I do think they're easier answers are the ones they pursued.
But where we are Alberberer joining us here on Fox Sports Radio on the subject of the Cowboys. Why do they operate like this? Why are they always waiting so long until the last minute to get a deal done, knowing that it's going to cost them more from people you've talked to? Why did they operate under these conditions?
You know?
I think I think I think would you say, what was that last part?
I lost?
You?
Just why do they operate underneath the under these conditions and and and do business this way?
Yeah? I mean, I think it's like, if you want the skeptical view, the skeptical view is that owners like to keep their money and their investments for as long as possible, and so that's why maybe some teams would rather do a deal with you in August than in March, you know, and that the longer they can wait to have that might come out of their pocket, the better. But if I'm not being skeptical dot it, which you know, you always have to have some skepticism with this stuff. I would just say, like, you know, when you're saying things early in the process, like well, we got to find a way to fit everybody, and you know, really like it's sort of self serving, and then you make the player away like it puts you in a really tough position, and you know, I again, like I don't know if there's the Cowboys drawing hard lines with guys early on. I think there's some cases that we would rather wait the extra year so we have some certainty. I just like I think that there are certain ones that are obvious, you know what I mean. Like I think with see Lamb, it was obvious like that he was trending towards a blockbuster deal and like that it was smart for them to get done a year early, and they didn't do it and it cost them a lot of money. I think when the quarterback generally that answer no question that you have the answer to. This is another one. Now again, like I don't know, things have always been perfect with Mike uh and certain people in that building. But he's a great, great player, and like I do think it's incumbent on you to make that decision early, as early as you can so you can get the guy under contract for a little bit less and bust of them with the with an extra previous year, which knocks down the average and makes it easier to manage. That's what the Eagles have done. It's one way the Eagles have been able to build the roster they've been able to build, and for one raiser out of the Cowboy, she has been unwilling to build that way.
Speaking about easy answers, Abe, your your REP sets should be pretty easy to structure. Doesn't sound like that in Cleveland. And I'm curious to Joe Flacco coming out and saying he doesn't know why or what his REP counts are going to be or why they're so low, but he trusts the FANSKI. My question to that would be, what does that represent for Flacco? Does that mean he's got one foot out the door there? They may be thinking about not going with him. I know it would be easy to say he's the he's the veteran. They brought him back because they know they can win with him. That's the easy answer, AB, But I mean, what isn't easy about this is you have four quarterbacks and you really have to figure out what.
You're going to do.
And I'll add this based upon all of the attension and all of the highlights and the fan fair surrounding Shador Sanders, I think he complicates it even more because your most popular player at the position is a fifth round draft pick rookie.
Yeah.
It's sort of interesting too, because I think it's you know, I mean, I have they made some sort of quiet promise to Joe. I don't know, if you're Joe, your fighting for the job you do on those reps. Now, I did talk to him a couple of weeks ago, and you know, he said to me, like, I'm comfortable with the fact that they know who I am, they know what I can do, and like that might mean that I get a little less work right now. And if he's so comfortable with that, it does make me wonder, like has they given him some sort of a shirt At the very least, I would say it almost feels like, I guess he's got like a first round by into the quarter in the quarterback co petishes.
You know what I mean, he's the one seed.
Yeah, like he's got the first round by and now those guys are competing for summer reps and he'll be there when they get to the second round of training camp. That sort of feel that way, though, doesn't it, Like I I don't know, I mean, like I think, you know, like they do know what they have. He has played in the offense. It is a little different. But like, you know, if he's so willing to step aside and let these guys yeah the word, well, then I do think to some degree, like he's got to feel comfortable with where he's at in the competition. And you know, it'll be really fascinating to see what Kevin is saying on day one up training camp because of where this thing has gone. And you know, I think the fact that it's probably in the levarc and speaks is better than me. But I think it's probably impractical to have four quarterbacks in a completely open competition, all on level ground at the beginning at the end of July, it's just too much to do. There are too few refs. There's you know, like ten other guys in the huddle up to get ready for the season. And I do think it's not Kevin like has sort of hinted at that it's not flat out said it like where you know, he's say like like everyone's being evaluated right now, and sometimes coaches won't say that in the spring, like that the competition is already underway. But it does feel like the competition it's already underway, and like I said, maybe Joe does have that first.
Round by He is Albert Breer, Senior NFL reporter, lead content strategist at the MMQB. You can get him on x at Albert Breer, also Amazon, NFL on Prime Insider as well too.
Abe.
We always appreciate it. Thanks so much, enjoying the weekend. We'll do it again next Thursday.
All right, thanks guys, I'm great with you.
There. He is Albert Breer with us here on Fox Sports Radio
