00:00Well, transition to football here.
00:01We got a poll question up on our Twitter at the team 980.
00:04If you could take any of these or one of these three old heads back,
00:10who would you take?
00:11Zach Ertz, Bobby Wagner, or Von Miller, right?
00:14There's an option for none as well if you want none of them back.
00:18But you can go vote on that poll question at the team 980.
00:22The overwhelming majority right now is none.
00:25But go vote on that.
00:26But I'm going to explain why this is even a conversation to begin with.
00:32Zach Ertz obviously got hurt at the end of last year.
00:34Terrible knee injury.
00:36For a guy that's closer to 40 than he is to 30,
00:39any sort of injury is always going to be bad.
00:41A knee injury is going to be even worse in relation to potentially extending your career
00:46if he wants to play more.
00:48And I actually thought that Zach Ertz had a,
00:50for how bad of an offensive year as the team had in 2025,
00:56I didn't hate the year that Zach Ertz had.
00:58It wasn't great, but I still felt like there was good football left in Zach Ertz.
01:03I still felt like towards the end of the year, if they wanted to bring him back,
01:07then I'd be open to bringing Zach Ertz back.
01:09And a lot of that is less so about Zach Ertz himself,
01:12and more so the questions that surround Ben Sinnott.
01:16And what is he going to be in 2026?
01:19Is he going to be anything in 2026?
01:23But then Zach Ertz got hurt, and it kind of went to the back of my mind.
01:26You signed Chicka Konkwo this offseason,
01:28and he is going to be definitively tight end number one for Washington.
01:34But then Zach Ertz went on a podcast this week.
01:37He went on the Ross Tucker podcast, and they were just talking.
01:40There actually wasn't a lot of conversation about his time in Washington.
01:44The podcast was only like 25 minutes, 26 minutes.
01:47I thought there was going to be a lot more about his time here.
01:50They asked him more about the Philly stuff than they did the D.C. stuff,
01:53which I get because he played there for such a long time.
01:56But he played in Washington, went to the NFC Championship with Jane Daniels,
02:00who's a superstar, with Dan Quinn.
02:01I thought there was also an avenue to ask, like,
02:04hey, what did you think about Cliff Kingsbury leaving?
02:06Because Zach Ertz came to D.C. because Cliff Kingsbury was coming to D.C.
02:11Unfortunately, none of that was asked.
02:12However, Ross Tucker, who is the host of the Ross Tucker podcast,
02:16did ask Zach Ertz about playing in 2026,
02:20and this is what Zach Ertz said about that.
02:21And so for me, I haven't put too much stock in where or when I want to sign
02:28because I just told teams and my agent relayed that to teams
02:32that whenever Zach feels like he's probably about a month away
02:36from being ready to play football again, then we'll start reaching out.
02:41And so I don't know when that is.
02:43I think it's unfair for them.
02:44It's unfair for me to kind of say, hey, this is what I want to sign by
02:47because I just need to feel good again.
02:51But obviously would love the chance to earn my role.
02:54I don't have this expectation that a team is banking on me to be a week one starter
02:59right now coming off the injury that I had.
03:01But I do think that if I do get back healthy, that I am still that same player.
03:05And so for me, it's just earning things again.
03:12I'm not going in there with any expectation.
03:14I don't want things to be handed to me.
03:16I'm going to go out there and compete like I always do
03:18and see where everything falls into place.
03:22So it's worth pointing out that that is not Zachert saying I'm going to play in 2026.
03:28But it is him saying that I'm going to try and play in 2026.
03:33And my answer to this poll question that is available to you at the Team 980,
03:37we'll take your phone calls on in about 10 minutes at 301-230-0980, 301-230-0980.
03:43I would honestly be open to bringing all of them back, but I don't want all of them back.
03:48I would like to have Zachert's back.
03:51Realistically, though, if I can only bring one back, I'm bringing Von Miller back in 2026.
03:57Because I think Von Miller can add something to the rotation that maybe does not exist.
04:04With Zachert's in particular, if they didn't sign Chikakankwo,
04:08this would be a much bigger talking point.
04:10I'm very glad that they did go out there and sign Chikakankwo.
04:14Because, again, I think he's going to be a dynamic piece to the offense.
04:19And I'm always for getting as many playmakers on offense as possible.
04:25Because we lived through 2025.
04:29Recency bias, maybe.
04:30I would say recency pain.
04:32Because we lived through what it's like to have no weapons.
04:37To see Jane Daniels throwing to guys or attempting to throw to guys that are running routes
04:42that are not the routes they're supposed to be running.
04:43They're not running it with enough depth.
04:45They're not running it with enough nuance.
04:47And then you put the guy in hell.
04:49I don't need to see that again.
04:51So I'm always in favor of bringing back as many playmakers as possible.
04:55The question and the problem that I would have with bringing Zachert's back into this particular scenario
05:03is where exactly does he fit?
05:06Because you have Okonkwo who's going to be tight end number one.
05:09You have John Bates who is likely going to be tight end number two.
05:13And John Bates has the great ability to block his ass off while also being a factor in the pass
05:19game.
05:19Is John Bates nearly as good of a factor in the pass game as Zachert's?
05:23No.
05:24But he's such a good blocker and he's signed to a multi-year deal that you're going to say,
05:29all right, we're going to keep John Bates.
05:30John Bates is in this.
05:32He's in this group.
05:33It's all about that third tight end spot.
05:36And that's where it comes down to Ben Sinnott and Zachert's and maybe Colson Yankoff.
05:40You could throw Colson Yankoff in there as well.
05:42So there's three guys that could potentially be vying for that final spot.
05:47If Zachert does want to play again and if his relationships extend past Cliff Kingsbury,
05:53maybe he developed a really good relationship with David Blau.
05:56Maybe he developed a really good relationship with Adam Peters and with Dan Quinn.
06:00We know that he thinks very highly of Jaden Daniels.
06:02He said as much on multiple occasions the way that everybody has said as much on multiple occasions.
06:08So I don't think that's anything we have to question.
06:10But just knowing that he came here because he wanted to work with Cliff Kingsbury again
06:14because of their time in Arizona, that does play a factor into potentially his decision-making.
06:19He could also then just go right up the road and play in Baltimore with Lamar Jackson,
06:23which is not the worst thing in the world either.
06:26But what does he provide that the other two do not provide?
06:29What do they provide that he does not provide?
06:32And the obvious answer is special teams because both Sinnott and Yankoff are going to play on special teams.
06:37Zach Ertz coming off a knee injury, damn near 40 years old, is not running punts, right?
06:44He ain't on kickoff team.
06:45He might be on hands team for the onside, but he ain't on just regular.
06:49It's the first quarter.
06:50We're kicking the ball off.
06:52He is not on kickoff team.
06:53Those two other guys might be.
06:55So then I look at the other two guys that are a part of this poll question, right?
07:00Bobby Wagner and Von Miller.
07:02I'd love the mind of Bobby Wagner back.
07:05I don't necessarily need to see the play of Bobby Wagner anymore.
07:09I love what Washington has done defensively in the linebacker spot because they have gotten guys that can do the
07:18things physically that Bobby Wagner could not in 2025.
07:22I don't know that I'm going to want to call my eyes out watching Sonny Styles potentially cover a running
07:29back out of the backfield or potentially line up against a tight end.
07:34I don't know that Leo Chanel is going to make me want to ram my head through a window doing
07:38either of those two things.
07:39I love Bobby Wagner watching that man attempt to chase Bijan Robinson from behind looking like a Drewski skit was
07:46embarrassing.
07:47That's a first ballot Hall of Famer.
07:49You can't put him in those positions anymore, but they were what I would love to keep with Bobby Wagner
07:54is I'd love Bobby Wagner to take the Ryan Kerrigan approach.
07:58We're going to make you a a low level assistant.
08:01We're going to keep you around.
08:03You're going to get to be a part of the community and you're going to get to use the intellect
08:06that you've gained over the course of a Hall of Fame first ballot career and really kind of pour that
08:13in to a Sonny Styles.
08:15I can you imagine Sonny Styles just getting to sit under and learn from Bobby Wagner.
08:21That's going to do wonders for his career long term.
08:24He's already a smart guy, but getting to learn the nuances of how to play linebacker at the NFL level
08:30from Bobby Wagner would be sensational.
08:33I just don't really want to see Bobby Wagner play anymore.
08:36And at least with Von Miller, Von Miller showed that he could still play at a high enough level.
08:42Do I want him to be the lead the leader in sacks again?
08:45No, but we did learn the hard way that life sucks when you don't have guys that can rust the
08:51passer.
08:52Right.
08:53My philosophy on pass rush has always been the same thing.
08:56It is never a bad thing.
08:58You can never have too many pass rushers.
09:02That idea is an oxymoron.
09:04It doesn't exist.
09:05There's no such thing as having too many guys that can get after the passer.
09:09But we did learn in 2025 that you can have nobody that can get after the passer.
09:14And while Von Miller did theoretically fall into that, I would love to keep him around specifically similar to what
09:21what Bobby Wagner did, but specifically to help with the young guys who are playing the position.
09:27Joshua Joseph said at Tennessee, they really like the upside with him.
09:31How can you capitalize off of that upside?
09:34The bend, the arm length, some of the elite traits that you can't coach.
09:38We parallel that with some of the things that you can coach.
09:42Right.
09:42Have them work out with a Von Miller.
09:45Have those dudes practice together.
09:47Have Von Miller be the veteran for a guy that you drafted in the fifth round pick.
09:51Worst case scenario, a fifth round draft pick doesn't work.
09:54Oh, darn it.
09:55Your expectations for him aren't even that high.
09:58Best case scenario is that the fifth round pick learns from a Von Miller.
10:03Von Miller still gets you four or five sacks at a far reduced rate snap count wise from what he
10:08played in 2025.
10:10But he still gets you four to five sacks.
10:12And then you take this fifth rounder that you had no expectations for.
10:16He learns, he grows, and he develops into being a dynamic pass rusher that could end up being a guy.
10:24That is around for years to come in this organization.
10:27I'm not going to sit here and say that I think Joshua Joseph's fifth round guy out of Tennessee is
10:33immediately going to be one of the best defensive ends in football because he learned under Von Miller.
10:38I'm not going to say that.
10:39But he could end up being a guy that could routinely get you six to seven sacks as a rotational
10:44piece.
10:45And if that's what you end up drafting in the fifth round and you're getting five to six to seven,
10:50maybe eight, maybe get like a weird 12 sack season in there at one point over the course of his
10:54career, that's a big time win.
10:56It's fulfilling the depth on the defensive line.
10:59They know they sink on defense.
11:02The drafts told us that our eyes told us that body language told us that like they know we know
11:09everybody knows defensively.
11:11They were awful in 2026.
11:14If keeping Von Miller around helps the defense get better, then I'm very much in favor of keeping Von Miller
11:20around.
11:20But I'm good on Bobby, and because Zach Ertz doesn't play special teams, I'm good on Zach Ertz.
11:25But I do think there's a lot of pressure on Ben Sinnott.
11:28I don't know that I'd be going into training camp thinking that his position on the team is 100%
11:35set in stone.
11:36And it's not about giving up on guys, but eventually in year number three, you're going to have to develop.
11:41We can't just keep you around for forever.
11:43There's a bunch of other dudes that were drafted in that draft class of Ben Sinnott that I feel much
11:48more comfortable about.
11:49Mikey Sander still is the big one.
11:51I feel much better about Mikey than a lot of people seem to.
11:54I just hope that they play him on the outside.
11:56They've had two seasons, right?
11:58But they start with Mikey in the slot.
12:00He doesn't look that awesome.
12:01And then they move him outside.
12:03He looks pretty darn good.
12:04Is he a lockdown, shutdown, all pro?
12:07No.
12:08But he looks pretty good.
12:09And he leads the league in interceptions.
12:11And they saw that his rookie year.
12:13And then they moved him inside again for year number two because they loved Marshawn Lattimore.
12:17And I get it.
12:18You had to see if the Marshawn Lattimore thing was eventually going to work out.
12:21Didn't work out.
12:23Then they move Mikey back outside.
12:24And he looks awesome again, right?
12:25He starts picking balls off.
12:27They finally start forcing turnovers.
12:29He plays really well on the outside.
12:31I just hope that they play him on the outside this year.
12:34They've learned their lesson.
12:35And they say, no more slot.
12:36We're going to put you on the outside.
12:38We're going to trust that we've seen enough from you.
12:40So I'm higher up on Mikey.
12:41I'm not giving up on Ben Sinnott.
12:43But eventually, you're going to have to showcase something that would keep you around.
12:49Because your draft status and the position of which you were drafted in can't do that forever.
12:54It keeps you around the first two years.
12:56You're number three.
12:57It doesn't.
12:58And eventually, you're about winning now.
13:01I need to see it from Ben Sinnott.
13:03I think he's under a lot of pressure as we approach 2026.
13:06We'll take some of your phone calls.
13:08301-230-0980.
13:10301-230-0980.
13:12Which of those three guys would you keep?
13:14Zach Ertz, Bobby Wagner, Von Miller.
13:16Do you have any interest in any of them?
13:18We're going to keep you in mind.
Comments