Jason La Canfora

KGMZ-FM / 95.7 THE GAME

Watch Jason La Canfora - KGMZ-FM / 95.7 THE GAME on Dailymotion

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00:00We go out to the River Islands guest line for Odyssey NFL insider Jason La Confora,

00:05host of the Odyssey original podcast, Want to Bet?

00:08Listen to Want to Bet now on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

00:11Watch it live daily on Jason's X account.

00:14Insider Call is brought to you by Nationwide.

00:16For your insurance and financial needs, Nationwide is on your side.

00:20Jason, great to have you.

00:22Thanks so much for doing it.

00:23And what is your reaction to this?

00:25Well, look, there's a lot of reporting that was done a few years back

00:31that the days of Ayuk and Hebo together were dwindling,

00:39and these guys kind of wanted out, not even picked the kind out of it.

00:43And these seem like marriages of convenience when both guys re-upped,

00:47and it surprised some people around the league.

00:49And it just seems like a team that didn't really have a feel

00:54for the human element of this and who really fit long-term,

00:57why guys were here, when windows might be sort of closing,

01:02at least windows with certain iterations of a team.

01:07I mean, I don't know a lot of people who thought it was great

01:09between Brandon Ayuk and the 49ers.

01:13Around the time before the contract got done,

01:16even when the contract got done, obviously since, he's been hurt.

01:20However, this was one that looked like it was headed for a divorce

01:25before they re-upped and, I guess, recommitted

01:28and put a ring on each other's finger for however long that turns out to have been.

01:33So, yeah, I mean, I think it's another data point that's, you know,

01:38pointing towards this being a team that's in transition.

01:42And now they're transitioning to younger wide receivers.

01:45I'm just wondering, with your national perspective,

01:48can you remember outside of Le'Veon Bell,

01:51a player walking away from this much money guaranteed just to get out of a situation?

01:59No. I mean, it doesn't happen very often.

02:04I mean, look, I'm sure he feels like he could go somewhere else past the physical.

02:09And I'm sure he's sat with his representation

02:13and I've looked at what's out there on the open market

02:17and how he can compete vis-a-vis it.

02:22But, no, look, it doesn't happen every day.

02:25I mean, how many games has he played since they came to this agreement?

02:29Seven. Seven games.

02:31I feel like you can cut them on your hands.

02:32Like, no, nothing about this is particularly normal or usual.

02:40But, again, it was kind of surprising when this happened in the first place,

02:45given what was going on at that time

02:48and given how clear he was making it that, you know, he'd like to be elsewhere.

02:53And considering the tenor of what I was hearing and others were hearing

02:58about potential for trade.

02:59Jason LaConfora is with us.

03:04Insider Calls are brought to you by Nationwide

03:06for your insurance and financial needs.

03:07Nationwide is on your side.

03:09I'd love to dig a little bit more into that, Jason.

03:12Like, what is your sense on what kind of interest he will garner next offseason?

03:20I mean, the injuries are obviously an issue.

03:25The way this went down is an issue.

03:29But talent, Trump saw.

03:31I mean, look, I think there's a lot more we're going to have to find out.

03:35A lot of time is going to have to pass, obviously,

03:37before there's any resolution to this.

03:40But, like, when we get to the combine,

03:42and if he's in great health and he's working out,

03:45I mean, look, the guys who hit free agency by and large these days

03:52all have some sort of word on them.

03:54But it's not unusual, especially at that position,

03:58for things to go sour between a player and a team,

04:01whether it's over who the quarterback is

04:02or how much they're seeing on the football

04:04or who else got paid before them.

04:07I mean, that part of it is not unusual.

04:10And I think when you're hunting for wide receivers

04:13and you're looking at who's out there,

04:15whether it's trade or whether it's free agency,

04:17you know you're inheriting somebody else's problem, right?

04:21I mean, like, just what's going on with A.J. Brown right now?

04:24I mean, some of this you just have to account for.

04:26It comes with the territory, with the position.

04:28So I think he's a player who there's going to be people interested in, obviously.

04:35Does this lead to some sort of a market reset at the position?

04:38You mentioned A.J. Brown.

04:39They're winning, and he still seems unhappy.

04:41Tyreek Hill, he won't get another big deal.

04:44He got hurt.

04:44And you can go down the list of guys who have underperformed

04:48versus their contract.

04:49Are teams going to finally sober up

04:51and stop shoveling money to the wide receiver position?

04:55I mean, there may be a little bit of asset reallocation

04:58that comes out of this.

04:59And, you know, like, again,

05:01is Bauer going to be able to stay healthy?

05:03You know, the kid Warren looks like the real deal.

05:06Like, maybe it starts being shoveled over to tight ends a little bit more,

05:10especially guys who have that true, you know, rare size-speed combination.

05:17Maybe people decide to put it on their defensive players a little bit more.

05:20I mean, yeah.

05:22I mean, it's an interesting point.

05:24I would say this.

05:26Kansas City Chiefs could use peak Tyreek Hill right now.

05:28Now, he's way past peak.

05:29But Patrick Mahomes had 43 passing touchdowns of 20 yards or more

05:35between 2018 and 2022.

05:37You want to know how many he has since Tyreek Hill left the building?

05:41He's got six.

05:42Six.

05:43Wow.

05:43He's got less than Will Leavis.

05:44He's got less than Aiden O'Connell.

05:46He's got less than Justin Fields.

05:50That's quite a number.

05:51That's quite a number.

05:53Hey, Jason, real quick, just since I know you're there in Baltimore,

05:57what's going on with Lamar Jackson?

05:59It's pretty banged up, man.

06:01Like, he's definitely hurting,

06:02and his legs are not a part of the equation right now,

06:05and they're kind of in win-ugly mode, and that's fine,

06:08and that'll be fine against the Jets in a couple of days.

06:10But then they play, you know, short rest Cincinnati,

06:13and then they've got Pittsburgh, and then they've got Cincinnati again.

06:16Cincinnati has a good defense.

06:17But Cincinnati was scoring 40 points with Flacco.

06:20Cincinnati with Burrow might be scoring 45,

06:22in which case Lamar's got to keep up.

06:24So people around here are going to be very interested to see

06:26if those legs come along for the ride.

06:28But he looks frustrated,

06:30and he clearly is not as switched up

06:33and looking to run as he normally would be.

06:37Jason, we appreciate you jumping in for a few minutes on short notice.

06:41Thanks so much, man.

06:42No worries. Thank you, guys.

06:43Okay, there he goes.

06:44That was Odyssey NFL Insider Jason Locken.

06:46For Insider Calls, we're brought to you by Nationwide.

06:49For your insurance and financial needs,

06:51Nationwide is on your side.

06:53Jason, the host of the Odyssey original podcast.

06:55Want to bet?

06:56Remember to listen to Want to Bet on Spotify or Apple Podcasts

06:59or watch it live daily on Jason's X account.

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