- 12 hours ago
Seth and Sean kick off the show by diving into Texans GM Nick Caserio debunking the CJ Stroud trade smoke as "moronic."
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00:00So the big thing yesterday, and this was happening probably about an hour after we went off the air,
00:05Nick Casario did a, he, annually at the Combine, you know, obviously Nick gets up and does a press conference
00:11with the assembled media at the Combine, so that'll include some national people and some local people,
00:17but before he does that, I forgot about this, before he does that, he does a little scrum
00:22with just the Houston media, kind of behind a curtain, you know, sort of off to the side,
00:27about 15 minutes before he gets up to the big podium there, and it was in that local media scrum
00:34that he said the thing yesterday, Seth, that probably got the most traction.
00:38This is what turned into a headline on ESPN, this is what was flooding my timeline after he said it.
00:44He was asked about C.J. Stroud and the trade chatter out there about C.J., and he called it
00:52moronic.
00:53It's moronic. Like, we're not trading that. He's a quarterback.
00:55So, he's going to be playing quarterback for the Houston Texans in 2026.
01:00So, anything beyond that, I mean, again, like, that's, you know, that's your world.
01:05You guys can spend doing that, but we're not trading C.J. Stroud.
01:08Okay, so the audio quality not great on the local scrum.
01:10The audio quality on Nick's other appearances yesterday, much better,
01:13and we'll get to another cut in just a second here.
01:16But he says it right at the beginning of that cut.
01:18If you listen closely, he's like, moronic.
01:20It's moronic.
01:21I think that when you try to parse things out here and what can you and can you not believe
01:26in terms of what GMs say,
01:29there's a couple things that we can discuss today.
01:31One is, okay, he flat out calls it moronic, the notion that they would trade C.J. Stroud.
01:36I agree with him.
01:37Very few people were talking about that seriously.
01:40There was a lot of click-baity type stuff.
01:43Most of what we discussed was how stupid it was that people were suggesting that the Texans were going to
01:47trade C.J. Stroud.
01:48Now, at the same time, he said some positive things about the offensive line yesterday and at one point said
01:58that he must be watching different film
02:00than a lot of these other people that are down on the offensive line.
02:04He was very protective of the offensive line last year as well.
02:08Yeah, what happened?
02:09After which he promptly dumped three of his starting offensive linemen.
02:12And fired the coach.
02:13Yeah, and I would say actually this year he did just acknowledge, hey, yeah, we're going to probably try to
02:19add some guys.
02:20And, you know, very clearly said that Jake Andrews basically is in a position where he's going to be competing
02:26for a spot.
02:27So last year it was almost frustrating because him and D'Amico were making comments that made it sound like
02:34there was no problem with the offensive line at all.
02:36This year I think they've said, hey, they've made progress, but, yeah, there's definitely going to be some new faces.
02:42Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:43And Jake, and you're right, and I think it was Landry who asked him directly about Jake Andrews in the
02:48mini scrum there before the big podium.
02:53So you and I were talking at the end of the show yesterday.
02:56Let's play one more from Nick about CJ here real quick.
03:00This was a – so we heard him tell the local media it's moronic to think we would trade him.
03:05He's our quarterback for 2026, he said specifically.
03:09He said anything beyond that, that's a you guys department kind of thing.
03:12It's up to you guys.
03:13So he did say he is our quarterback for 2026, which makes the follow-up questions that we have about
03:20the whole situation kind of interesting.
03:23But here was Casario when he was asked about CJ Stroud in the big podium that he did shortly after
03:30the local scrum.
03:31Yeah, he's our quarterback.
03:32He ain't going anywhere.
03:33We have a lot of confidence, a lot of belief.
03:35I mean, I'd say the philosophy that D'Amico and I have, we're going to support our players and do
03:38everything we can to kind of help them.
03:40And this league's about ups and downs.
03:42I mean, nothing's perfect.
03:43I mean, there's no team that's undefeated unless I miss something this year.
03:45So that's not going to happen.
03:46You know, by and large, you're probably going to lose five or six games.
03:50Going to be some margin on either side.
03:52You're going to have some good plays.
03:53You're going to have some bad plays.
03:54You're going to have some good games.
03:55You're going to have some bad games.
03:56Okay, how do you bounce back?
03:57How do you handle that?
03:58So it's just, I mean, this league is a one-game-at-a-time proposition, and how you handle every
04:04situation ultimately is going to determine your success and your longevity.
04:07So no loss.
04:08I mean, look, the stock market's been going down for five days, so everybody's probably panic selling.
04:12So, you know, really what you're doing is you're going to be investing more.
04:15So, but anyways, we have a lot of confidence in CJ.
04:18We've got a lot of confidence in our players, and I'm glad he's our quarterback.
04:20Okay, nice little stock tip in there from Nick in the middle of all that.
04:23He's a market timer.
04:24Yeah.
04:24But he's not a buy-and-hold guy.
04:27No.
04:27He's an active trader.
04:28Shouldn't surprise anybody.
04:29No.
04:30Market back up yesterday, by the way.
04:31Good job, Nick.
04:32Way to point out it was down five days.
04:34That's right.
04:35That's right.
04:35The market was up.
04:36Probably after all the irrational enthusiasm stoked by his comments there.
04:41Yeah, that's right.
04:42Wall Street all got notifications on their phone.
04:45About Nick talking about the stock market being down, and then it was, and everybody should buy, and now yada,
04:49yada, yada.
04:50It was up 300 points.
04:51Yeah.
04:53Go ahead.
04:53So, yeah, so I think two things on that, Seth, on what Nick just said.
04:57One, I think all that stuff about you're going to lose five or six games, a play here, a play
05:02there.
05:02I think that's a long Nick Casario way of saying small sample size.
05:06It's just a couple of games in the playoffs, and we're not going to eject on C.J. Stroud after
05:12a couple of bad games.
05:13Specifically, the New England game was the worst of it in the playoffs.
05:16I know some people were agitated by the comment that, hey, you're going to lose six games, and that falls
05:23into the category of things that coaches or GMs who have won a Super Bowl can say, or especially if
05:30they've won multiple Super Bowls.
05:31You can find Mike Krzyzewski, John Wooden, championship winners, Bill Belichick.
05:37Bill Belichick, yeah.
05:38I think comments basically along those lines of that you can only control so much.
05:42And people that think about it and aren't just putting motivational stuff up on the wall know that there's very
05:49little difference usually between a 14-win team and an 11-win team.
05:53Sometimes it's just dumb luck.
05:54So you kind of go into a season knowing, all right, it's very, very few teams are going to win
06:01all.
06:02One team has won all their games in the history of the NFL.
06:05That's right.
06:05And that was back when they played three fewer games, or at least in the Super Bowl era, than they
06:11do right now.
06:11Now, people got agitated.
06:13They said, look up, there he goes, Nick, saying we're going to lose six games.
06:16He's conceding five of the games already.
06:19Already.
06:19He's speaking a little too honestly about the way coaches and GMs approach them.
06:23Well, and how math works, too.
06:24I mean, he's right.
06:25You know, like the fact of the matter, hey, I like that better than O'Brien's whole thing.
06:30It's an 8-8 league.
06:31I'd rather my GM get up there and say, well, 12-5, 11-6, and tell me it's an 8
06:36-8 league.
06:36So there's that.
06:37I get what he was saying there.
06:39The other thing, hey, Ben, play the beginning of that.
06:42Just start it from the beginning one more time.
06:44The Casario Combine cut 11, right?
06:46Yeah, he's our quarterback.
06:47He ain't going anywhere.
06:48We have a lot of confidence, a lot of belief.
06:50I mean, I'd say the philosophy that D'Amico and I have, we're going to support our players
06:53and do everything we can to kind of help them.
06:55Okay, right there.
06:56I think that was interesting, too.
06:58We're going to support our players, do everything we can to help them.
07:00I think, you know, Nick's never going to say we draft for need.
07:03You know, we know how he feels about that phrase even being uttered.
07:07I don't even know what that means, he said last year.
07:10I do think that gives maybe a window, the whole we're going to support our players,
07:14we're going to give them everything we need, maybe a window into the sense of urgency that
07:17they have on the offensive side of the ball, either via free agency, well, probably both
07:21via free agency and the draft.
07:22This might be another offseason where they accentuate that side of the ball.
07:26Yeah, if you go and you listen to all his clips from the local scrum, from at the podium,
07:31everything that I've listened to, I think he has been more forthcoming about basically
07:37saying we need to address the offensive line.
07:40It sounded to me like he was just acknowledging they're going to bring some people in.
07:44Yes.
07:45And that's where I am.
07:46Last year, I really just kept clenching my teeth and saying, okay, I appreciate the patient
07:50approach.
07:51You don't want to make drastic moves if you can build from the ground up.
07:56I've lost all that patience this year, especially after watching and seeing what the Bears did
08:00last year.
08:01Very aggressive before the draft and bolstering their offensive line and trading for veterans
08:06and bringing in free agents, et cetera.
08:08Yeah.
08:08And it worked out by and large.
08:10They got a better performance out of their quarterback.
08:11It looked like a better version of Caleb Williams.
08:13They ran the ball too.
08:14Right, right.
08:15That's a big one right there.
08:17With Menungai and with DeAndre Swift, both had really nice seasons for them.
08:20Yeah, it's just enough is enough.
08:21Yeah.
08:22It's kind of like when you're trying to teach your kids how to tie their shoes, but at a
08:24certain point, you got to get to the assembly on time.
08:27So they go, all right, okay, good job, good job.
08:29But I'm going to tie your shoes for you.
08:31That's what we're doing with the offensive line.
08:33Or get some Velcro.
08:35Really quick fix.
08:36No, that's the problem.
08:37That's quitting on it completely.
08:39That's just...
08:42That's signing Linderbaum, trading for an elite left tackle.
08:46That's the shortcut for everything, man.
08:49But Linderbaum, it sounds like the Ravens, according to their GM, has already, the center
08:53for the Ravens has already received, according to the GM, a league-setting offer.
08:58Okay.
08:59So that means more than $18 million per year.
09:00Yeah, I'm guessing that's 20-plus.
09:02My bully tactic for Tyler Linderbaum is for everybody in Houston to go at him on whichever
09:08social media platforms he is or is that on.
09:10Oh, I love that, yeah.
09:10And say that you're selfish.
09:13Yeah.
09:13And you owe it to the rest of the league.
09:15That's a good suggestion, Seth.
09:16To go to free agency.
09:17You owe it to other centers, your brethren, to set the market as high as possible.
09:23And if you don't do that, you're selfish.
09:25If this were baseball, that actually would be a thing.
09:27I know, yeah.
09:28The Players Association would be telling them that.
09:30Yeah.
09:30Gotta go take the best offer, man.
09:33The other thing that Casario said, and I believe this was in the local scrum as well,
09:39just based on audio quality, was about Joe Mixon and his surgery.
09:45And I know you either texted me or tweeted, I can't remember which, about this is one
09:49of the wilder things I've heard GM say.
09:51Yeah, I just finished watching season four of True Detective.
09:55Yeah.
09:56And this is weirder than True Detective season four.
09:58Yeah, yeah.
09:59I'm expecting a supernatural polar bear to just walk into my room at some point.
10:03Right.
10:04So this is the latest.
10:05This is the most recent time now, yesterday, that Nick Casario has been asked about Joe
10:12Mixon's mysterious injury that forced him to miss the entirety of last season.
10:17We've talked to Joe and his rep.
10:19So honestly, it's day to day.
10:23So looking back conversations, trying to get a little bit more information.
10:28You know, he's had, I think he had a surgery here, his off season, some capacity.
10:32So, you know, trying to get some call after that.
10:35So, again, I've said this multiple times, I'm not trying to be evasive.
10:39It's a moving target.
10:40So we'll kind of see what the availability is going to be, what the prognosis is for the
10:44season.
10:45And then ultimately try to figure out, like, what makes sense for everybody involved.
10:49I think he had a surgery this off season.
10:53Of some kind.
10:54Of some kind.
10:55Of some kind.
10:56We don't even know if it was on his foot.
10:58Could have been LASIK.
10:59He could have been LASIK.
11:00You know, Mixon's been seeing 20-50 lately.
11:03He's back to 20-20.
11:05When he says, I'm not trying to be evasive, it's not like he's even saying that he wouldn't
11:11be evasive if he could.
11:13Right.
11:13He just, he can't even be evasive.
11:15He might as well say, I would love to be evasive on this, but I don't have enough information
11:21to be evasive.
11:22To be evasive, there needs to be something to evade.
11:25And there's nothing to evade right now.
11:26I wish I had something to hide, but I don't.
11:30I would love to juke you right now.
11:31Yes.
11:32Standing here, palms open, chest exposed.
11:35With you.
11:35I have nothing.
11:36I have nothing.
11:37We're all on the same team here.
11:39I think he had a surgery of some sort.
11:42That is one of the strangest things I've heard a GM say.
11:45I think it's, it paints a picture of just how vague and uncertain the situation is.
11:50Well, he's gone.
11:51Like that, my reaction to that is he's, when you have the GM gone, I think he had a surgery.
11:56Now, maybe, you know, maybe he, maybe that is Nick being a little evasive about, maybe
12:00he caught himself in the middle of saying that he's about to say Joe had a surgery.
12:05You know, like a lot of guys have surgeries that nobody finds out, you know, never sees the
12:09light of day in the off season.
12:10So maybe Nick caught himself mid-sentence, you know, violating HIPAA or something like
12:14that.
12:15But yeah, but let's take it at face value.
12:18I take the GM saying he had a surgery.
12:21I think this off season tells me that the team is very detached from this situation right
12:27now.
12:27Just real quick.
12:28Cause I know people always get triggered by that.
12:30There is no, there is no HIPAA with coaches and GM.
12:33Yeah.
12:33I know, I know, I know, I know, you know, but we always get like seven texts on the line
12:37about the, about, with, uh, with, uh, about hippos after that.
12:41Um, the, I, I think this is where I would be with it.
12:46The fact that he doesn't exactly know what's going on doesn't also mean that doesn't mean
12:51that Joe Mixon can't play this year.
12:53Sure.
12:53But he's also in a position where he just has no solid foundation on which to make a
12:58decision.
12:59Yeah.
12:59I'm, I'm looking at it this way.
13:01If at some point Joe Mixon's $8 million that you could save by cutting him.
13:06Eight.
13:07Yeah.
13:07If some, if, if by some stretch, maybe the Texans, maybe a Daniel Hunter type situation
13:12pops up from a couple of years ago in free agency where they realize they've got a crack
13:16at a guy that wants a, some guy that just an older guy that only wants a one year deal
13:21or something, you know, and you could actually really use that space.
13:25Then you might say, all right, well then we got to get rid of them until you get to that
13:29point where you're uncomfortable with the cap.
13:30For some reason, I think maybe you just try to kick the can down the road, but you have
13:36to operate in free agency and in the draft, like Joe Mixon's not coming back.
13:41That's the big thing, man.
13:42Do you like to, for whatever, for whatever front facing things they're saying or leaving
13:47open the possibility of Joe Mixon playing for this team again, which, you know, may or
13:51may not be anywhere near the truth.
13:54It very well could be that behind the scenes, Nick and D'Amico have been ready to cut Joe
14:00Mixon for a long time now because of this injury.
14:04Like if it's still a mysterious thing where on February 24th, Nick Casario is giving that
14:08answer.
14:09March 9th is going to be here before we know it.
14:11That's when free agency begins.
14:13You like the, the sand is, is the sand is almost out of the hourglass here.
14:17You've got to make decisions that have nothing to do with the salary cap with Joe Mixon.
14:21You've got decisions to make.
14:23And I think you, you framed it perfectly.
14:25Yeah.
14:25Maybe they've got the cap space to let him sit there and hang around and maybe a miracle
14:29happens.
14:30And now all of a sudden you've got Joe Mixon to add to what would be then be a loaded
14:34backfield.
14:34Cause they're going to make moves at running back.
14:36That was the other thing Nick did in that local scrum yesterday.
14:39There was a little harrowing as he's like, well, Chubb's the free agent and this guy's gone.
14:43And that guy's gone.
14:44So our room is down to Woody Marks, British Brooks and Jawar Jordan.
14:48And you go, Holy smokes.
14:50They need a couple of running backs in that room right now.
14:53We're all intrigued by Jawar Jordan and British Brooks, but I don't think any of us really
14:57feel like, yeah, you got to go in with the plan being Woody Marks and Jawar Jordan for
15:01the entire season.
15:02There you go.
15:03We're, we're intrigued by those young guys, but they need to be still developmental guys
15:07that contribute on special teams.
15:09I'm open.
15:10If those are the three you got in the room right now, I am open to them signing.
15:13One, a good one and drafting a running back in the first two or three rounds.
15:18I think, I think, man, let's all of a sudden make that room something that you were, you
15:22were on a ledge the entire season in that running back room.
15:26Like if something happened to Woody Marks that put him out of multiple games, you were
15:30screwed at running back.
15:31I love the, I wish Nick had just left it.
15:34Why?
15:34If somebody just asked like, what do you, what do you know about Joe Mixon right now?
15:37And didn't, didn't even mean about his injury status in general, like Nick, like, I don't
15:41know.
15:42I think, I think he had a surgery or something.
15:43I think he's, I think he's in the United States.
15:46Yeah.
15:47I heard he was in Guam for a while.
15:48I think he got married.
15:49I don't know.
15:50I heard he got married.
15:51Yeah.
15:51He had a face tattoo maybe.
15:53Right.
15:53I don't know if I could tell.
15:55The zoom was real sketchy when he was, yeah.
15:57When he was, was he zooming me from Tibet?
15:59Yes.
16:00I don't know though.
16:01Really?
16:01Do you remember when Kerry Collins showed up in the off season of that picture of him hiking
16:06in Tibet and he, and he looked like, he looked like he'd been on a, on a psychedelic journey
16:12or something.
16:12Yeah.
16:13I do.
16:13I do.
16:13That's what I feel like Joe Mixon is on right now.
16:15Yeah.
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