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00:01Just scrolling through Sal's Twitter, which I'll sometimes do if I'm worried about, like, is there something obvious that I've
00:08missed?
00:08Some big story?
00:10I don't want to go, like, 20 minutes with Sal and not bring up something huge, right, that I didn't
00:14hear about.
00:15And he has a tweet from yesterday about how the Seahawks are offering fans, season ticket holders, who went to
00:26their games as opposed to selling tickets.
00:30More often than not, I guess.
00:32They're offering not just season ticket holders at all, but season ticket holders who went to games a chance to
00:38move to better seats.
00:41Something.
00:42All right.
00:42We're giving you this because you actually showed up.
00:46I don't know what I think about that.
00:48I guess I like it, but what part of the pact is that you have to go to the game
00:53if I'm invested?
00:55I see why the Seahawks want, you know, their fans, like there's a better chance.
01:00Not necessarily, but.
01:02Because that's become a thing there.
01:03Like, that stadium has become less and less intimidating over the years.
01:10More visiting fans.
01:11Sal is with us.
01:12You shared this story yesterday, Sal.
01:14What do you think about this?
01:16So, at first blush, I thought this is a pretty cool concept because I'm thinking about the Sabres here and
01:21how other fans come in and Sabres fans sell their tickets.
01:23And we have this debate all the time.
01:25And they're probably going to geofence the ticketing in some capacity for the playoffs and whatever.
01:30So, I ran across this and the person who put it out is actually, he does a really good job.
01:34He's actually one of these, like, independent type of, he created his own content creator, right, for the Seattle Seahawks.
01:41And I met him out at the combine when I was out there.
01:46And he writes that he shares the email, basically.
01:50This is Brian Nemhauser's his name.
01:51I'm sorry.
01:52Brian Nemhauser.
01:52And it says, thanks for your attendance.
01:55Thanks for your high attendance during the 25 season.
01:57We're excited to offer you a special 2026 seat relocation opportunity with early access.
02:03And the concept is because you didn't sell your tickets a lot or at all.
02:08You get this.
02:09The issue is, how do they know?
02:12So, like, what if I transfer my ticket?
02:14I know that they can track tickets.
02:16Like, the Sabres, the Bills, the Seahawks, whoever, can track tickets online.
02:20Who's selling?
02:21Who is transferring?
02:22What if I just transfer my ticket to my wife?
02:25Like, we're season ticket holders, right?
02:27Like, I don't know.
02:28Like, I just think it brings in a whole set of, how is this happening?
02:33If you look at the replies to his tweet, there are people going, dude, I went to every game.
02:37I did not get this email.
02:39So, I don't know what happens here.
02:42I want to know up front.
02:44Like, if there's a standard where I have to go to six games or something myself with my name on
02:49it, then, okay, tell me.
02:52So, there's that aspect of it.
02:53I don't know.
02:54Who's to say that people who own season tickets, you don't really own them anymore.
02:59They never call you a season ticket holder.
03:01They always call you a season ticket member now.
03:03It's their stuff.
03:04They don't want you to notice, but the verbiage has changed.
03:08But, say, a broker owns or has season tickets to the Seahawks or the Bills, and they never go to
03:17games because their business is reselling them.
03:20I mean, that doesn't mean that they're a fan in the first place or not one or anything like that.
03:25I mean, I was a Sabre season ticket holder for almost 20 years, and I sold seats.
03:29I don't know.
03:30Just tell me up front.
03:31I guess that's all I really want to – I don't want to complain about this too much.
03:34It just feels a little bit not transparent enough.
03:38Part of the responsibility of having season tickets is that you actually have to go in this modern world.
03:45I don't know.
03:47I don't like how it tastes, this one, but interesting to find out about it.
03:52Yeah, me too.
03:53You've got some – is it news?
03:56Do you want to call it news?
03:57Like sort of a new detail on what might be a topic next week.
04:03Yeah, I mean, there's just all these little things that are happening with the NFL owners meetings as of every
04:08year.
04:08And what happened was the NFL – a few things happened over the last few days that will be discussed
04:14and expanded upon next week, obviously, out in Phoenix.
04:18And what happened is there was a video conference, and I was – actually, it was during Extra Point Show,
04:22so I couldn't join.
04:23So I went back and re-watched it.
04:26Excuse me.
04:27And I learned through the NFL and the people talking, Rich McKay and Competition Committee, a couple of little things.
04:34So they really, really, really track minute details, like scoring per game.
04:41Like scoring per game, points per game this year, if I remember the numbers, up like half a point than
04:46normal.
04:47And they're good with that.
04:48They're like, yep, 46 points a game maybe, which is normally 45 or 45 and a half, like totally good.
04:54There's questions about the kickoff returns, and that's still obviously an evolving play, and the number of yards.
04:59What's interesting, it was only like one kick return for a touchdown last year, or maybe a couple, very few,
05:04but a lot more punt returns for touchdowns last year.
05:07And there's questions about, okay, like what do we like, what do we not like?
05:11And they like the big plays and things like that.
05:13One of them is, Rich McKay said – and I know it sounds super like minute, but he said plays
05:19were down like three or four plays a game or something like that, like the numbers.
05:24Total overall offensive plays.
05:26And one of the ways they want to get the number back, just those few plays, is when a guy
05:33goes out of bounds, they're going to make sure, like in a normal situation, the clock restarts, right?
05:39Unless you're under four minutes of the game or two minutes of the first half.
05:43Guy goes out of bounds.
05:44The play clock starts immediately.
05:47The game clock doesn't start immediately.
05:49They're supposed to wait seven seconds.
05:52And apparently that hasn't been happening.
05:54So they want to make sure, kind of enforce, and be more diligent about, hey, a guy goes out of
05:59bounds.
05:59Play clock starts at 45 – or 40, excuse me.
06:03Do not start the game clock until there's 33 seconds left on that.
06:07So I guess I need a third clock.
06:09Right, right.
06:10So they – exactly.
06:11So they think that they will get like – I'm not kidding you guys.
06:13And he said like two or three more plays in a game.
06:16And I think that could matter.
06:18I need a third clock for the seven seconds.
06:20Yes.
06:20At least to the clock operator.
06:22And, of course, there would never in an NFL game be, you didn't start – you didn't wait seven seconds.
06:27There would never be that.
06:28Right.
06:28Some, you know, team employees managing that.
06:31I could get SkyRef to rule on that.
06:33That would be pretty ideal.
06:35I'm just drowning over here.
06:36You know, my first thought, Sal, I didn't know this little nuance like you're saying about the, you know, waiting
06:42until the clock, you know, restarts.
06:44The game clock restarts.
06:47My first thought was, is that because there's – teams are running more?
06:51You know, because running does – you know, that slows the game down.
06:55It just – it, you know, runs clock more.
06:58And I wonder if there's been any study on that.
07:01Like – and I'm not even sure.
07:02You know, we live here in a place where the Bills have run the ball more the last few years.
07:06And I believe that that's a league-wide trend, but I don't – I haven't seen numbers, you know, that
07:10it's – but, you know, that could be a way that you lose some plays is if teams are running
07:16it more.
07:18It's also kickoffs, I think, because you're starting from farther up the field most of the time, you know, on
07:24average.
07:25So – and, you know, you have kickers who can hit from 60, so you don't have to –
07:29And it's also – it's also the number – kickoffs, Mike, because it takes longer for a kick return now,
07:35right?
07:35But you're getting the ball.
07:36You're getting more kick returns.
07:37The clock starts when the guy gets the ball, so therefore there's more time running off the clock when there's
07:42actually kick returns as opposed to touchbacks where there isn't as much time running off the clock.
07:47So that's part of it as well.
07:49Yeah, in fact, he'd also said there were 73 games last year that were decided by three or fewer points,
07:56which the league loves because they said that tied a record.
07:59Now, there was an acknowledgment that there's an extra game now compared to years past, right?
08:03We've been playing the 17th game for, you know, five years or so, I think.
08:06But 73 games decided by three points or less, and the league is loving that, right?
08:10That's the ultimate parity of what they're looking for.
08:12Mm-hmm.
08:13So there's this.
08:14We have a couple of also less exciting, much less exciting rules stuff to figure out next week, how far
08:24in advance you can trade your draft picks, how many phone calls you're allowed to make to UFAs.
08:29I mean, these are the headliners, right?
08:32We've done enough, Sal, you think?
08:34I mean, do you think this is the case, and do you agree?
08:36Like, we've done enough with the kickoff changes that we're kind of going to stand pat for a little bit?
08:41We've got to do that for now.
08:42Well, there was something that was going to be tweaked in that, right?
08:45Yeah, the setup zone.
08:46Oh, I forgot.
08:46Remember, I read that tweet from Schefter, and they were like, I didn't know what any of it really meant,
08:52but I read it.
08:54Oh, my gosh.
08:55I mean, yeah, the setup zone is a big deal because it's basically, you guys see sometimes there's a flag,
09:02and they go, illegal formation on the kickoff team, right?
09:04Something like that, the kick return team.
09:06Like, there are only a certain number of players that can be in certain spots on the kickoff, and they're
09:11going to kind of massage that a little bit for, you know, I guess both for safety and how many
09:16players are on one side of the hash versus the other, things like that.
09:20So, yes, they are going to go through that.
09:23I suspect over the next several years, we're going to get a lot of this stuff with the special teams
09:26because everything's evolving.
09:28The other one is, remember, guys, teams took advantage of that loophole last year of, oh, if I just kick
09:35it out of bounds, it's not a big deal, right?
09:37Like, I can just kick the ball out of bounds now, and the other team starts, you know, you can't
09:41do that now.
09:42So, now, I think, eliminate the incentive to intentionally kick the ball out of bounds when kicking off from the
09:4950-yard line.
09:49Because if you have a penalty that puts the ball at the 50-yard line, I think, I have to
09:55read through this now, where the other team would start it.
09:5725 yards from that spot, right.
09:58Yes, 25 yards.
09:59The Bills did it in a game, I don't remember which game, but it happened in a Bills game this
10:03year.
10:04That's right.
10:04So, they're going to try and kind of take care of that a little bit.
10:08Touches the ground, it says, the dead ball spot is the 35-yard line, if without first touching the landing
10:13zone, the kickoff.
10:14So, 35-yard line, it looks like where they would start off in that situation.
10:18So, that's another thing.
10:19Yeah, so, the draft pick stuff is interesting because who proposed it?
10:24Cleveland, right?
10:25And you guys saw what happened today with Cleveland, right?
10:27The report that they adjusted Miles Garrett's contract a little bit?
10:30Yeah.
10:31And this was some sort of deal where this is not like a typical restructure that teams always do just
10:38to kind of, you know, help out the cap.
10:39This was more of a, hey, let's just kind of push a little money later in the year to make
10:45it more manageable to trade him.
10:47And now there's a lot of scuttlebutts today that, like, oh, and Adam Schefter said, they're not trading him.
10:53But it certainly is interesting to me that the team that proposed this rule to trade draft picks five years
11:00in the future, the best player in the league that plays, you know, defensive end, they suddenly made it more
11:05palatable to trade him.
11:07But, yeah, the way I read that story is Garrett doesn't get any more money any sooner, and the team
11:15doesn't benefit at all salary cap wise, which leaves you at, well, then why do it?
11:21Like, what's the point?
11:23The player had to be agreeable to it, but he doesn't gain anything from it, nor does the team, other
11:29than this caveat that, like, well, we can unload him now, and this really buffers the dead money.
11:35Yeah, that's right.
11:36So I wonder what there is, and what's interesting to me about this proposal is I, like, look at it
11:41from, you know, the league, what they think, and Rich McKay was specifically asked on this conference call, like, what
11:47is the competition committee's stance?
11:49And he is always, I don't give the stance of the committee.
11:51The committee has a stance, we don't give it.
11:53But you'll kind of find out next week what our stance is.
11:56And they said they looked at other leagues, and he said, well, you know, we'll go through it, and you'll
11:59know, like, where we stand.
12:01And I kind of get the feeling that they don't like it, like, just kind of the way he was
12:04talking, that the competition committee doesn't like this particular stance or rules proposal.
12:09The five years of draft picks.
12:10The five years, yeah.
12:11But it's not up to them.
12:13Every year when I go to the owners' meetings, we hear from Rich McKay and the competition committee.
12:18We hear from Roger Goodell.
12:19And I try to think of something, like, what's something that, okay, this is my one chance, right, to ask
12:22something that I'm thinking about.
12:24Now, a couple years ago, I asked Roger Goodell at the owners' meetings, like, have you, there's some rumors that
12:31you could move championship games to neutral sites.
12:33Remember that whole thing with the Bills and the Bengals and that one year and everything that was going on?
12:37And there was a, well, maybe they could move it to a neutral site this year.
12:41And somebody said, well, I think they could actually do that in the future.
12:44So I asked Roger Goodell that question.
12:46I'm like, hey, like, is this something you would consider?
12:48And he's like, that's not something we've ever really talked about, to be honest with you.
12:51We don't want neutral site championship games.
12:53The one for me for this year, as I listened to Rich McKay talk about this, I'm reading this story
12:59about Adam Silver and the NBA and tanking.
13:01I want to ask them what they think about it.
13:03Like, is this a problem in the NFL?
13:05Do you think you need to go to a draft lottery?
13:07It's not as pervasive.
13:08It's not as easy.
13:09We know that.
13:10But it is kind of a bit of a trend here to start thinking about now.
13:13You know what I mean?
13:14Mm-hmm.
13:15Well, I mean, with these kickoffs, too, like, have they ever considered 40-foot bumpers like bowling has for the
13:23sidelines?
13:23And the ball gets kicked off the bumper, and then you have to return.
13:27Probably not, but yeah.
13:29All right.
13:29Sorry.
13:30Are you relieved to have the opportunity to come up for air after arguing with people for two or three
13:37offseasons about the tush push?
13:41Yeah, kind of, sort of.
13:42Um, I'm actually really intrigued that there's nothing at all on the proposals about it this year.
13:52Um, right.
13:53Because everything, I still am reading, like, it's not on the agenda, but there are teams that have very strong
14:00feelings about it still, which is just kind of weird to me.
14:04Right.
14:04And McKay touched on this on the conference call.
14:06And what he said was he still kind of left it in the window for the pushing the runner in
14:12the open field and, you know, where that could go.
14:15And there are some thoughts about that.
14:17And I feel strongly about that.
14:18Like, I just don't think that you should be able to push runners forward.
14:21I just, I think, you know, when you're out in the open field, the 30 yard line, I'm basically against
14:26the tush push.
14:26I am.
14:26Because I just think part of the spirit of football for me has always been aiding the runner.
14:30That's an aiding the runner penalty.
14:32You shouldn't be able to do it.
14:33Um, pulling the runner forward is even worse.
14:36And that's kind of been a little bit addressed, but now it's not anymore.
14:39And I don't know.
14:39So he was asked specifically by Ian Rappaport.
14:43Ian Rappaport's on this call and he says, do you think that that's kind of ended the debate now?
14:47Is this, is this the end of the debate?
14:48There's nothing on the tush push this year.
14:50And McKay's response was, no, I wouldn't say that.
14:52It's just not on.
14:53He goes, but let's remember, it actually never came up for, for rule vote last year.
14:58And I'm like, I guess that's right.
15:00Like there was talk about it, but I don't think they ever voted on it last year.
15:03It's not on the table this year because Philadelphia wasn't that good at it.
15:07And they didn't write a Superbowl and they didn't beat a green Bay team in the playoffs using it to
15:13have green Bay propose it at the rules meetings like the Browns and the draft thing.
15:17So, you know, it's got to be a, has to have been a problem for us, for our, you know,
15:24to, for us to nominate and propose it at the meetings.
15:27And maybe the bills aren't all that fired up about it anymore because that was Sean McDermott's thing, maybe.
15:30Right?
15:31Like he was one of the faces of that debate.
15:34Yep.
15:34And he's obviously no longer, you know, employed by the bill.
15:37And he had a tough time figuring out how to sell it because he talked about injuries and then nobody
15:43sort of noticed there being any injuries on the plate.
15:46Right.
15:47All right.
15:48Real quick.
15:49And then the other thing they'll talk about a lot, I'm sure, is just this, you know, how the little
15:52bit of the scheduling stuff.
15:53And you guys saw the news, the Melbourne game will be played at 10, 15 a.m. in Melbourne on
16:01a Friday morning when they play there next year on a Friday morning on what?
16:06So it should be a Thursday night here.
16:09Yes.
16:09So it'll be Thursday night, our time, 815 Thursday, 515.
16:13And the two team cities who are playing, which are L.A. Rams and San Francisco, 1035 a.m. or
16:191535, sorry, I keep saying that, 1035 and 535 and 835, 1035 a.m. Friday in Melbourne is when they're
16:26going to play.
16:27Think first match of the morning, which here is the night in the Australian Open.
16:31You turn on ESPN for the Australian Open at like 830 or 9 o'clock, they're playing, same.
16:36Same kind of time situation there.
16:39And the Seahawks will open the season the night before that.
16:45Wednesday, right.
16:46Against.
16:47Well, against, right, who knows?
16:49And I think we've talked about it just so people understand what's going on.
16:52There was a broadcasting act back in the 1960s that was enacted by federal law that says the NFL cannot
16:58play on Friday nights starting the second Friday of September.
17:03Well, this year, week one falls on the second week of September.
17:07And the reason the law exists is to give high school football that night so the NFL doesn't overshadow it
17:15and people can go to games and support their local communities.
17:18So the NFL has to adhere to this rule and say we can't play on Friday night week one because
17:24that's actually the second Friday of September this year.
17:27Who do you want in Seattle since we're here?
17:29That opener.
17:30Dallas, Chicago, or New England?
17:33I think that's probably it.
17:34I doubt it would be Kansas City or the Chargers.
17:37I mean, that's not bad.
17:39Not the Giants, not the Cardinals, and the Rams and 49ers are already booked.
17:44I prefer the Chicago Bears out of that list.
17:47I've seen Dallas play early games, primetime games a lot.
17:51It's just, it's Dallas.
17:53I don't know.
17:53I don't need to see that all the time.
17:54I'm interested in Chicago, the season they had, the bounce back, and I have no interest at all in seeing
17:59a rematch of the Super Bowl on opening night.
18:01Same, totally.
18:01I don't have a real strong opinion about what I would rather see, but I would bet on it being
18:08New England.
18:10That's my prediction is that it will be New England.
18:14And I don't, you know, I know the Super Bowl was gross, but I don't know.
18:19Give them another chance.
18:21It's New England.
18:22Like, they've had an offseason.
18:23They've got a famous quarterback.
18:24They're expected to be good.
18:26Like, I think they meet the criteria just because they lost the Super Bowl badly.
18:29I don't feel like it eliminates them.
18:32But don't the Bears check, as you would put it, all the boxes, though?
18:35Yeah, they do.
18:35They do.
18:36Yeah.
18:36Big market, fun team, won a playoff game themselves.
18:40I think there's a lot about them.
18:41For once, the Bears are fun.
18:43Yeah, no, they're a fine.
18:44They're a fine.
18:44All three of those teams are, you know, Dallas for their reasons.
18:47Chicago certainly meets the criteria.
18:50I just, I don't know.
18:51I would bet on New England.
18:53We have news on the Bills as I'm talking with you guys, just so you know.
18:56The Bills have signed three players, including a wide receiver who had been on the team before,
19:02Trent Shurfield.
19:03So Trent Shurfield has returned to the Bills.
19:05Lloyd Cushenberry III, a center, they've signed.
19:09And the interior swingman, Austin Corbett, who came in for a visit this past week,
19:14they've all signed with the Bills.
19:15This is just happening within the past couple minutes while I've been on with you guys.
19:19Shurfield is back.
19:20The return.
19:21Was he on one of, was he on Jeremy's roster of Bills that left and have returned now?
19:27I don't know if he was, I don't know if anyone had him.
19:30Yeah, no, the morning show has this thing.
19:32That's gettable.
19:33Yeah, it is.
19:33That was gettable.
19:34It is.
19:34And he was tweeting about that today, I think, because, or somebody was.
19:38Because all.
19:38Somebody tweeted at him, because all the defensive free guy, all, Curtis Samuel, too.
19:42A bunch of free agents that have left the Bills have not signed him.
19:46Right.
19:46Last week we were talking, maybe Sal was with us.
19:48I think he was, and we counted like 13 defensive, alone I think maybe, defensive players that
19:54were still UFAs that were on last year's Bills.
19:58So, Shurfield.
19:59So, the two linemen, do you think, are just, what, competition for Alec Anderson, depth, that kind of thing?
20:05Just to not, just assume we've got a guy that's been a backup and a, you know, a bit player
20:10is going to win the job.
20:12Let's make sure he has to actually win the job.
20:15Yeah, agreed.
20:16And, 100%.
20:19I look at the future of what's happening.
20:21Do they have plans?
20:23Like, if you're going to try to recoup a draft pick, could you do that with Cedric Van Praan Granger?
20:27I mean, he has two years left on his deal.
20:28There's no path for him to start.
20:29He doesn't play guard.
20:30Right?
20:31So, like, what do you do there?
20:33They've offloaded and they've traded linemen before.
20:35These are veteran players who you bring in for competition.
20:39Corbett can play center and guard.
20:40He did both last year in Carolina.
20:42Cushenberry.
20:43Yeah, veteran center.
20:44Like, absolutely, I think.
20:46And that's where it gets me to SVPG because now does that mean, like, what does that mean for him?
20:51Right?
20:52Look, they're going to have to keep adding bodies.
20:54This time of year, as I always say, you've got to bring 90 to camp.
20:57You know, currently on their roster, they only have 10 offensive linemen, I believe it is.
21:00So, they're going to keep adding offensive linemen to their roster.
21:04So, a couple more come in now.
21:06Now, this also, in a way, you don't have to force your hand a little bit in the draft.
21:11Sure, if there's a guy there you love.
21:12But if you can sign a few free agents, you know, before the draft, you kind of feel a little
21:17bit better about your depth.
21:18And then you don't feel like you're in a position where you have to make a move in the draft
21:21to get a guy because you're depleted at that spot.
21:23You kind of let the draft come to you, so to speak, if you do that.
21:25So, Cushenberry started 15 games last year for Tennessee.
21:30Started all 17 games two years prior at center for Denver.
21:35Corbett, 11 starts last year for Carolina.
21:39And Shurfield is 6'1", 206, I see.
21:44Is he – did he play special teams when he was here before?
21:47So, I'm wondering if he could be like Tyrell Shavers insurance.
21:51I'm going to look at that for you right now, actually, if I can do that.
21:54I can try and figure that out for you right now because he – I don't have that.
21:58I don't know.
21:59I don't think he played a ton of special teams.
22:02Let's go.
22:02Oh, here we go.
22:03Snap counts.
22:03Let's see.
22:05Yeah, I guess he did.
22:06When he was in Buffalo, 35% special teams.
22:08So, he did.
22:09Yeah, he was up there.
22:1035% of special teams.
22:12So, I think that could be a replacement in that regard.
22:16Yes.
22:17All right.
22:18So, I don't have to necessarily ask you what is next for the Bills, as I was planning to do,
22:23because this is next for the Bills as we speak here.
22:26But something else will now be next.
22:29That's right.
22:30Next will be – yeah.
22:31Yeah.
22:32So, next week – if we don't talk tomorrow, if anything happens, then I'll talk with you guys Monday from
22:38Arizona as things get rolling.
22:40They have the – they usually – I don't know why they changed it up this year, but this year
22:44the NFC coaches are going first.
22:46We will hear from the NFC coaches, I think, on Monday and the AFC on Tuesday.
22:50I think I got that right this year.
22:51And the coaches' breakfast where there's 16 tables and you just kind of go to that table where the little
22:56flag is of your coach.
22:58And you can sit there and talk.
22:59And then you can walk over to another table and talk and all that.
23:01Yeah.
23:02What a cool moment for a first-time head coach to be a part of all that.
23:05And the picture.
23:06Don't miss the picture, Joe.
23:08Oh, yeah.
23:08The picture.
23:09The annual picture where Mike is going to dissect everything about – which I love, by the way.
23:13I'm not making fun.
23:14I love it because, like, I listen to you to learn who wasn't in the picture, basically.
23:18Who wasn't in the picture and why?
23:20Find a fountain and line up and let's do this.
23:23Everybody.
23:23Let's get everybody this year.
23:24And Andy Reid in shorts.
23:26And a Hawaiian shirt.
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