00:00NFL news and notes here, spending some time on a Wednesday morning, getting you caught up on all the latest
00:04here.
00:04One of those stories that continues to have some twists and turns is the Chicago Bears,
00:08who seeming like headed to Indiana, getting a great deal from the state government of Indiana,
00:13as opposed to staying in Chicago and Illinois.
00:16Well, now it turns out, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker says a broad agreement is in place for the Bears
00:20for a new stadium in Arlington Heights, which is outside of the city, but keeps them in Illinois.
00:25But understand this, too.
00:26The reason why we got to this point, Joe, if you remember, they bought the old racetrack at Arlington Heights.
00:30Like, OK, we're going to buy this and eventually we're going to invest in it.
00:34And we hopefully we can make a deal that's profitable for everybody.
00:36We'll stay in Illinois.
00:37And then what did the state of Illinois do immediately in Arlington Heights once they bought that property?
00:42They raised that property tax to astronomical heights more than any other state would have done there for a football
00:48team.
00:48That's where the fight begins.
00:49But it looks like now, Illinois bending back towards the Bears way, Joe.
00:56Donnie, I got to tell you, the one thing that amazes me across the board with this story is that
01:02all of this and people need to remember it.
01:04All of this could have been a but this did not happen in a vacuum and overnight.
01:08Like, I do not understand why it is that people are somehow shocked that the team with all the leverage,
01:15the professional sports team with all the leverage, Donnie, figured out a way to get somebody else to pony up
01:21to put the pressure on what, you know, should have been a done deal.
01:25Donnie, how long ago?
01:25This is this is we've been talking about this for three years and all they did is said, oh, OK,
01:31we'll just go to Indiana.
01:32We'll get them to approve it and then we'll come back and see, are you ready to pay now?
01:37And shockingly, it looks like they have figured out a way to come up with enough money to get him
01:41the stadium and keep him in the state.
01:44Unbelievable.
01:45Yeah. Like, hey, by the way, guys, you can actually negotiate that tax rate that we put in that was
01:49so ridiculous and designed to hold you hostage here at this point.
01:52What an unbelievable negotiation tactic here that we're seeing.
01:56But we'll see if the Chicago Bears do stay in the state of Illinois.
01:59How about a guy that's not going to be standing in the excuse me, the state of Georgia?
02:03You know, that is that's Kirk Cousins.
02:05They signed Kirk Cousins and drafted Michael Penix.
02:08And everybody's like, this is the stupidest thing you can ever do.
02:10And Atlanta was like, no, it's not.
02:12It's very smart.
02:13Years later, the people are proven correct.
02:15One of the stupidest deals you could possibly do all that money.
02:18Can't even trade the guy expected to be out the door for the new league year.
02:23Well, because the geniuses on the former regime thought it'd be great.
02:27Yeah.
02:28Let's sign him and, you know, and get a proven winner here.
02:32Oh, and then in the first draft, let's go ahead and get his replacement.
02:36So now we can just put pressure on everybody.
02:39And P.S.
02:40Guess who ends up winning out here?
02:42It's Kirk Cousins.
02:43And by the way, when Penix Jr. gets hurt again for the 90th, the guys had nothing but injury concerns
02:50through what?
02:51Five years of college and now a couple of years in the NFL.
02:54And guess the team was much better with Kirk Cousins under center than it was Penix.
03:00So, yeah, they got to figure it out.
03:02He's going to land with somebody, Donnie.
03:04The question is who?
03:06I mean, Cousins was furious when it went down.
03:08Nobody thought it made sense.
03:09I remember the Atlanta general manager actually coming out and saying, like, this is actually a good option.
03:13If Michael Penix doesn't ever play, it means Kirk Cousins is good, which means you probably could have had a
03:17top flight wide receiver cornerback draft instead of Michael Penix.
03:20But, hey, if it doesn't work out with Kirk, we have Michael Penix.
03:23That means you wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on a bad quarterback pick.
03:26It was unbelievable to start.
03:27It's amazing that professionals at their job make decisions like that where just the casual fan watching goes, yeah, that
03:33seems pretty stupid here.
03:34And, of course, it turns out that it was really stupid.
03:36But you're right about one thing.
03:38When you want to make money, you look towards Kirk Cousins here.
03:42$321 million made on the field.
03:44Not off the field combined.
03:45On the field for Kirk Cousins.
03:47That's impressive from him and also his agent.
03:51And he's been doing it.
03:52And, I mean, how many contracts now, Donnie, right?
03:55I mean, comes out.
03:56He's got to be a backup out of college, Donnie.
04:00And then he just turns that into year after year, contract after contract.
04:04That is a huge amount of money for a guy that, for the most part, everyone thought was nothing more
04:11than a backup quarterback.
04:13And yet, $350 million plus later.
04:16Look at him now.
04:17Unreal.
04:18You like that.
04:19You like that.
04:20Yeah, he likes that in his bank account.
04:21So does it account here.
04:22I'll tell you where they're not liking their quarterback play.
04:24That's up in Minnesota.
04:25Where the Vikings now will be, quote, exploring every option at quarterback here.
04:30I thought McCarthy was the greatest leader and the greatest quarterback we've ever seen.
04:33And now it looks like he got his general manager fired.
04:35Could his coach be on the way next?
04:37Or is coach going like, hey, man, I never wanted to draft this kid to begin with.
04:40But all options on the table went, I thought they already had their franchise guy.
04:44Yeah, another GM that suddenly finds himself unemployed that pulled that trigger.
04:51Wouldn't sign Sam Donald, but thought that this was going to be.
04:55And by the way, wanted to move on from Kirk Cousins, didn't want to.
04:59Yeah, well, here you go.
05:00Back to back to the drawing board.
05:02Could Kirk Cousins be coming back home to Minnesota is interesting, too.
05:07Wow.
05:07What a return here at this point.
05:09Also, could Nick Sirianni, by saying he can't make promises to A.J. Brown, be sending him to the New
05:13England Patriots for a reunion with his old coach, Mike Vrabel?
05:17How about this quote?
05:18Will A.J. be here next season?
05:19I can't guarantee how anything is going to play in the next season.
05:22I'm thinking I'm going to be the coach next season, but you can't guarantee anything past tomorrow.
05:26You know how you avoid this stuff?
05:27We love A.J.
05:29Great locker room guy, man.
05:30He's going to have a huge season right here in this uniform, even if you don't believe it here.
05:35Unbelievable, Joe.
05:37Yeah, it's kind of crazy, isn't it, Donnie?
05:39But listen, somebody's going to get him.
05:43You know what I mean?
05:43And if he has his way, it could very well be at New England when it's all said and done.
05:49Because Vrabel seems to be the only guy that actually understood him, communicated with him, never had a problem like
05:55he's had with everybody else, Donnie, after being traded away from Tennessee.
06:00Let's hear from Howie Roseman on the Eagles offseason.
06:03Let's go, Howie.
06:04Yeah, I think you've got to go back to how you want to build the team first and foremost.
06:07You know, what is your priorities in building the team?
06:10Because when we have this many players coming up for second contracts on their rookie deals, it's going to be
06:16hard for us to keep all of them.
06:18The good news is we have a compensatory system where we can get some draft picks back in the future
06:23for some of these guys who've meant so much to us if we can't sign everyone.
06:27But we've got to make priorities.
06:28And you can't only do that by playing favorites.
06:30You've got to also do it by your vision of how you build the team.
06:33And so we'll try to be pretty clear about our vision to the extent that we can and get those
06:39guys back and continue to build on top of that.
06:43There's Howie making moves out here in these streets, Joe.
06:45And also, you've got to figure out where you're going to move in the future.
06:48The Eagles don't know if they can sign everybody, which there is a salary cap in the NFL.
06:51You get the compensatory picks back.
06:53But how about this?
06:53A guy that we don't expect to be a free agent, which we thought might have been a free agent,
06:57Kyle Pitts of those Atlanta Falcons, strapping on there.
06:59Hey, man, franchise tag for you.
07:02Oh, it looks like one year, $15 million at worst case for Kyle Pitts.
07:05Yeah, kind of crazy, right?
07:07Wasn't he, didn't we want to trade him?
07:10Or he didn't live up to the hype?
07:11Or maybe the coaching staff just wasn't any good here in getting the maximum from him.
07:18So hopefully new regime, new look, lock him in there.
07:22And it's not like the guy doesn't have the talent, Donnie, right?
07:25He's worth the money if they use him correctly and he can stay on the field.
07:31So I agree.
07:32I wouldn't want him playing for, you know, somebody else in that division.
07:35That's for sure.
07:37How about John Harbaugh?
07:38Not Jim Harbaugh actually wearing some Giants colors here.
07:41Let's check it out.
07:41What's got going on, John?
07:42Definitely a different color pattern.
07:43No doubt about it.
07:44You know, that's been good.
07:45I've kind of enjoyed that.
07:46Appreciate that.
07:47I was going to take this off.
07:48You know, you can see the logo a little better, right?
07:51You know, that's a good thing.
07:52So it's exciting.
07:54You know, it's fun.
07:55And I really feel energized, always do.
07:59Whenever you come to Indy, you feel energized.
08:02I mean, you get a chance to get around.
08:03You see the players.
08:04You have the interviews.
08:05You see the coaches.
08:07You see the GMs.
08:08You kind of size up your competition.
08:10I mean, let's be honest.
08:10You know, it's competitive.
08:12You know, and you get a chance to kind of take a look at who's doing what
08:15and how they're trying to do it.
08:16So that never changes.
08:19The fact that it's with the Giants now instead of the Ravens is what it is.
08:23You know, and I'm excited about it.
08:24I mean, I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to represent the New York Giants.
08:29And we're just really going to work.
08:31And that's really what we're doing.
08:33Is he taking a shot at Lamar Jackson, Joe?
08:35Did he get that out of there like he's just happy to be here,
08:37which means I don't have to deal with Lamar anymore?
08:39Hmm.
08:40Yeah, pretty much.
08:41Or any of the other aggravation that comes along with it.
08:43But yes, I think, listen, he should be energized, right?
08:46New team, new quarterback, a lot of talent there and opportunities to get.
08:52I'll add to that here with a, what, top five, top six draft pick here.
08:57They got some options here, the Giants.
09:01By the way, one quick story to fit in, too.
09:0212-time Pro Bowler Trent Williams having contract negotiations,
09:05but they're struggling to bridge the gap on what that dollar should be.
09:08Hey, look at that, Joe.
09:09When you sign a quarterback to $50-plus million,
09:12it turns out you can't afford everybody.
09:14Imagine if they lost Trent Williams, you just had to release him.
09:16A top seed, Joe.
Comments