00:00At 5 o'clock, we'll be joined by Ben Standing, who is in Ashburn today,
00:04hanging out with the Commanders, getting some insight into their organized team activities.
00:09Also at that time, 12 minutes from now, we're giving away tickets to see Treaty Oak Revival at Jiffy Lube
00:15Live.
00:17Grant and Danny welcoming you back.
00:19So Jaden Daniels was asked for the first time publicly about signing Brandon Ayuk
00:23and bringing him to Washington if and when he's released by the San Francisco 49ers.
00:28Here was Daniel's answer on one of his best friends, Ayuk.
00:32I don't know. I don't have a sense on it.
00:34That is my brother, and we have a personal relationship.
00:37But his football future, that's out of my control.
00:40So this was not a let's go get him.
00:43This was not a massive endorsement.
00:45This was, because you can be careful, hypothetical, if he's cut, if he's not on a team.
00:51He's a guy I'd love to play for even more casually.
00:54Yeah, that's my best friend. We played together in college.
00:56You always want to play with your friends.
00:57He didn't even go that route.
00:59Now, do I think behind the scenes he's advocating to get Ayuk?
01:02I'm sure he is and has been for some time.
01:05But I found that answer interesting and notable, that he has a chance to go out there and say,
01:11yeah, let's bring him in.
01:13He's going to have a great rest of his career.
01:15I also found there was some empathy in there, too, where he talks about, like, that's my brother.
01:20I love that guy.
01:21And he's going through some stuff.
01:23Jaden Daniels didn't say this.
01:24I think the rest of us can see it.
01:25And he was pretty clear to say, that's my guy.
01:28I'm looking out for him.
01:29But then he separates it when he says football career.
01:31As far as his football career, I can't really help him that much there, essentially.
01:37Whenever he speaks, I'm reminded how much I love Jaden Daniels.
01:41And I do.
01:42And that, to me, is the perfect answer.
01:44Because if you just go, hey, he's under contract.
01:47I can't talk about it.
01:49Then that doesn't really tell you a story.
01:52This answers every question from every angle.
01:54So here's what he did.
01:56He acknowledged the human element.
01:58Yeah, like, beyond football, dude.
02:00When our days are done and we're talking about what we used to do and how fun we used to
02:05have
02:05and how much fun we used to have and how great we used to be,
02:07he and I are best friends.
02:08On a human level, I care about that dude as a person, right?
02:12We all have that in our lives.
02:13We totally get that.
02:14So I got plenty of buddies, you know, that are going through some stuff,
02:17that aren't going through stuff, whatever.
02:19You know, that is a great friendship.
02:21And he fully acknowledged that and leaned into that even.
02:24The second layer is the more important one.
02:26So you understand there's a difference between that professional,
02:30assume that personal relationship with my friend and a football career-wise,
02:35I got nothing to do with that.
02:36I don't know where his path is going to take him.
02:38And it basically distances himself from saying,
02:42yeah, I'd love to have him here or whatever.
02:44So he's off the hook in that regard.
02:45Like, to me, that was the perfect answer.
02:47Devil's advocate.
02:48I wonder if this is just the answer I give so that this is not a story.
02:53If he would have said, look, we're great friends,
02:56but we've got a really good receiver room.
02:58I think we got what we need in-house.
03:00Just to endorse his own teammates.
03:03That's a massive news story.
03:04He's basically saying, we don't need to sign Brandon Ayoub.
03:07He didn't do that correctly.
03:09If he says, we should bring him in, I think he's got a lot of game left.
03:16We can kick the tires.
03:18He can make us better.
03:20The headline is going to be, Jaden Daniels wants the commanders to sign Brandon Ayoub,
03:24which we all kind of know is the case, you would think,
03:26based on them being best buddies, to your point.
03:27But now you've said the quiet part out loud.
03:29He didn't do that, probably correctly.
03:31The one thing you could have done for this not to be a massive story is what he did.
03:37And this is, you said you love Jaden Daniels.
03:39I mean, he is, like, PR 101, he could teach a class.
03:42He could tell Sean and Charlie over there and Sam to take the day off.
03:49I got you.
03:49I'll just coach everybody up on how to answer questions.
03:52Because he never really gives you anything that you can blow up.
03:56And so I don't know if that was the plan there, or, you know,
03:59his point is actually that he thinks, like, yeah,
04:02I don't really have any control over that.
04:03Like, we've all assumed he's in Adam Peters' ear saying,
04:06go get Brandon Ayoub.
04:07I guess it's possible that he's not.
04:09But I would think there's been some back and forth at some point where he goes,
04:13this is my dude.
04:14Bring him in here.
04:15I'll make sure he behaves himself, and he's going to make us better,
04:18and we can get him back right.
04:20I have to imagine that conversation.
04:22You would think so, especially if, you know, you would seek an opinion.
04:26I mean, Peters knows Ayoub, too.
04:27I mean, he was there also in the building.
04:29But if he's like, hey, you guys are in more regular contact than I am with him,
04:32certainly.
04:33What's going on there?
04:34But I don't even think he has to tell Adam Peters about the person or the player.
04:38Adam Peters doesn't have any questions.
04:40I mean, it's more just a, this is not a cornerback.
04:44This isn't Mikey Sanra still.
04:45This isn't Meek Robertson who just got here three minutes ago to play in the nickel.
04:49This is your starting quarterback, the face of your franchise,
04:52who's on a trajectory to get a couple hundred million dollars
04:55and be one of the highest paid players in the history of the league.
04:57You get a little more sway.
04:58I'm not pretending you're Aaron Rodgers and you get to be GM and sit in there
05:01and yell at Brian Gutekunst when he doesn't ask you which offensive lineman
05:04to take in the fourth round out of the Big Ten.
05:08But when you're Jaden Daniels, you're closer to that than the last guy on the roster,
05:12understandably.
05:13So it just would seem to me at some point you can throw your weight around a little bit.
05:17And I think he had some leverage after they moved on from Kingsbury
05:20when clearly he didn't want that to happen.
05:22Remember the comments his mom made on social media
05:24where at some point you do a couple things to appease,
05:28is maybe too strong of a word, but to make him comfortable.
05:32One of the great ways you could do that is to bring his best buddy in
05:36to play wide receiver with him.
05:37Certainly.
05:37Yeah, again, I don't know how much it is he arrives in the morning with his cup of coffee,
05:45goes to the meeting room, and then every time in the hallway he's yelling at Peters
05:47to go get Ayuk versus if he's asked.
05:50I mean, at some point I'm sure it's come up in conversation, right?
05:53And so he's been able to give his input.
05:55I wouldn't doubt that.
05:56I would think the same, honestly, of most anybody.
05:59Hey, we're thinking about this.
06:00You know him personally.
06:01Could you make sure that I'm doing the right thing,
06:03or is this guy going to let us down?
06:05But something as high profile as this, I imagine some conversations have been had,
06:08certainly, as it relates to bringing Ayuk in here.
06:12So, yeah, I'm sure he's got an advocate as a guy that's a great friend.
06:15But to me, again, I want to go back to that answer.
06:17The answer is a, I'm not in charge of that guy's career,
06:22even though it was my great friend.
06:23I want nothing but the best for him, but there was no, I'm pining for it.
06:27There's no, I've got to have it.
06:29There's only asked about that guy, so he's not defensively or reflexively going,
06:33but I love Noah Brown, and I love the receivers that are here.
06:36I think Luke's going to have a great year.
06:36Like, that just seems very, you know, as you said,
06:39like you've been handed a note to read from PR.
06:43This was like a genuine answer going, yeah, I love the guy,
06:45but I've got no idea what the future holds for him.
06:47And clearly an abdication of it's also not my call if he's here or not.
06:51When we return, we'll give away those tickets to Treaty Oak Revival.
06:54Early next hour, I want to talk about Bryce Harper brushing his teeth weirdly.
06:58You're listening to Grant and...
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