00:00on the wise heart right we make it right call Kyle Wright hotline of the MMQB the great Albert
00:05Breer joins us now Albert I feel like your summer has been Miles Garrett trade talks and setting
00:10people up for that now the Soresby stuff I mean this is supposed to be your downtime you're
00:15supposed to be able to take a damn vacation and the NFL is not allowing you to yeah today was
00:20pretty annoying if I'm being honest about it like I uh today was actually my kids last day of school
00:26um so I was actually thinking about going and seeing that new alien movie that came out with
00:32them but that would be nice to kind of decompress and he said I I get something else that's from
00:39another world so here we are so you've been all over this story and I I just think it's interesting
00:45I didn't even think there was a question that he was going to be allowed to at least go into
00:50the
00:50supplemental draft and after that the NFL will handle it how surprised were you that the NFL
00:55said no to the supplemental draft itself I mean so I think I would have told you from the start
01:04that
01:04they would have wanted to do that right um I just didn't think they felt like that I thought they
01:12would like look at it and say legally we can't you know and we don't want to go through a
01:17lawsuit and
01:18we know it's going to be problematic for us because what it might mean from an antitrust perspective and
01:23everything else because you know this comes back the heart of this is like you know the the kid
01:29doesn't have anywhere else to go now which is the whole idea of supplemental draft right the whole idea
01:34of supplemental draft is when a kid gets gets ruled and eligible after the April draft and has nowhere
01:41else to go because the NFL is an operating monopoly they give those kids a path to get into the
01:47league and
01:47play their season and so you know like in this case it it really almost brings the business structure of
01:55the league into question in that like Brendan Sorsby literally has nowhere else to go so do I think the
02:01NFL wanted to make a statement on on gambling absolutely I 100 believe that the NFL all along
02:08wanted to say no we will not allow this I just thought the lawyers would tell Roger and whoever else
02:15like
02:15look like we're going to lose in court if we do this um now the flip side is and I
02:21think this is
02:21something to watch depending on how hard Sorsby wants to push it wouldn't shock me if Sorsby does
02:29wind up getting some there is some sort of path created in for Sorsby in that like I think maybe
02:38the NFL wants to make a statement here um but knows that like there's some legalities that are
02:46that that could wind up um being problematic for them in other words like knowing they might lose
02:53the legal case they still want to make the statement on where they stand on gambling and that's not just
03:00the normal integrity of the game thing which is important no question I think also in a way it's to
03:05protect their relationships with all the companies that are making so much money off of Albert so
03:10what's our next step here because Sorsby's attorney sounds like he's pretty upset here called it a
03:17violation of the CBA and the law they're planning on pursuing it immediately with the NFLPA maybe that
03:25creates a path for Sorsby to end up in a supplemental draft like what's our next step from here
03:31well again I think it's like it comes back to the the spirit of supplemental draft okay so
03:37what's the supplemental draft there for it's been taken advantage of in the past you guys all know
03:42the story of Bernie Kosar um you know but I think as they've tightened up the rules and more recently
03:48the way what it's there for is to create a pathway for a kid who's out of option and a
03:54kid who loses
03:54eligibility between um you know the time when you have the deadline to declare for the conventional
04:01draft and the start of training camp and so what what might that mean well we've seen drug cases
04:09Josh Gordon we've seen NCAA cases Terrell Pryor we've seen a ton of guys who've been you know ruled over
04:16the years academically ineligible I don't even know if that even exists anymore being academically
04:20ineligible but we've seen those guys let in and I I can't think of a single case where a player
04:26who was in that spot who applied to enter the supplemental draft ever was told no and the reason
04:35why again is because it's the NFL is like and the way the NFL presents itself to get around some
04:43of the
04:43legality of being a monopoly is hey we're a trade association right like they're a trade association and
04:50the teams are their companies and so in a case like this what the argument would be is that well
04:57like if the NFL truly is a trade association then this kid's employability isn't up to the trade
05:03association he's subject to the rules when he's in its union but he's not in its union so he's not
05:09subject to the rules yet so like you can't leave it up to the trade association whether or not
05:15you know he's employable you you have to leave it up to the companies which are the teams
05:21um and so I think that that's the challenge um that that that that Sorsby's camp is going to
05:28levy against the NFL here that if you are truly a trade association like you present yourself to be
05:33to get around some of the the the antitrust law well then you have to let this kid in and
05:40that you know
05:41obviously poses a really big problem for the NFL because so much of how they're built is based on
05:47operating as a monopoly so like that's I think the legality of it the NFL's counter to that will
05:54be the Claret case which is well you know these rules were were negotiated by the players
06:01Maurice Claret wasn't what wasn't in the union but he was about to be in the union so he's subject
06:06to
06:06the union's rules and so that's how the NFL was able to enforce the three-year rule and if you
06:12guys
06:12remember for years and years and years everybody thought that the first person to challenge that
06:17rule um would would would would would take down take down the rule and now all of a sudden we'd
06:24be
06:25having freshmen and sophomores in the draft every year and obviously that didn't happen and so um
06:30it's an interesting legal I also think there's probably one that neither soars be because of
06:37the cost of fighting that that that battle when you're not making money nor the NFL because of
06:42you know the the implications it could have on on the league big picture I don't think either of the
06:47sides really want to go to court and fight that fight and so what's the what's the the solution in
06:54that the solution in that is that um soarsby side would file the lawsuit and then they work out
07:00some sort of settlement but we'll see whether or not we go they everybody winds up going in that
07:04direction Albert it's interesting when I when I read the letter to soars being of the 32 teams
07:09the the word accountability we was used there a bunch and I thought it was interesting because
07:14I saw soarsby's agent go on our sister station in Dallas and a few other public outlets and basically
07:21play the victim card for Brennan soarsby and I remember thinking like well that doesn't seem like
07:27the smartest tactic to play how much just like big picture how much did soarsby's camp specifically
07:34his agent hurt his case with the NFL well I mean I think like I think their point is and
07:41and I I agree
07:42with this to a degree is that the kid has already paid a very very heavy price um and you
07:49know like
07:50that price is his eligibility his final year playing college football which you know he wanted to play
07:56in his native state um the six million dollars or so that he would have made this year now he's
08:01already collected some of that so he didn't lose all of it um and then the chance to play his
08:06way into
08:06the top five of the draft next year which would mean 50 million dollars guaranteed right so you add
08:12all that up then whatever Jeffrey Kessler is billing him you know what I mean which is I mean gonna
08:17be a
08:18substantial amount of money and like I think that that's the the soarsby's side is he's already paid
08:25a massive price for this and now you as the NFL are preventing him from moving on with his life
08:32now whether or not you buy into that I think that's sort of the point they're trying to make
08:38I I I think um if that I don't know if it's necessarily going to help them in the court
08:44of
08:44public public opinion um but um you know I do think like when you when you start to look at
08:52like
08:52what he has lost it's it's I'm not calling him a victim he did what he did it was really
08:59freaking
08:59stupid right I mean like to put your college eligibility at risk um and to put your future at risk
09:06um for those sorts of bets four years ago on your own team and not knowing that rule is just
09:12negligent by him but like I think it's hard to argue he hasn't already paid a pretty heavy price
09:18Albert uh I know you're a Boston guy you're a Celtics guy I saw you tweeting about Jalen Brown
09:24situation in Boston windy today on ESPN said there could be a bidding war for Jalen Brown from a
09:31from the Boston perspective would you be more interested in Evan Mobley for Jalen Brown or
09:37Donovan Mitchell for Jalen Brown? Evan Mobley probably because they need a big guy I think that
09:45that would be the I mean they don't need another guard you know like so I I would I think
09:51Mitchell's
09:51probably a better player but Mobley is more what they need um and I I think Jalen Brown's a better
09:57player than Mobley but like I you'd have my interest there with uh with the would you guys
10:02be for the Cavs trading for Jalen Brown? Yes and we'd rather trade you Donovan Mitchell than Evan
10:08Mobley because the timelines and many other things. Right right well I mean it's it's going to be
10:17interesting because Jalen Brown wants to go to a place I think at least where he can be the guy
10:21and it seems like that's been a topic of conversation here for like two years uh maybe
10:26even more than that you know and um I it'll be interesting to see what happens tonight whether
10:32or not something happens because I I mean he was pretty disgruntled to begin with and now
10:37I can't imagine like the events of the last couple of weeks uh that made him any happier to be
10:44a Celtic.
10:45Albert wanted to bring it back to the Soresby thing really quick is you put up uh article
10:51yesterday on si.com just about teams that were vetting Soresby's personality and trying to get a
10:57feel for Soresby as an individual because it almost feels like the statement reads like the league is
11:03trying to protect the teams from themselves because of the timeline of not having a ton of time to make
11:11an informed decision on Soresby because of the gravity of the gambling situation what were you
11:16hearing from teams just on his personality and and the team's willingness to take a chance on somebody
11:22like that? I mean if you guys want to put me put it bluntly I mean I like I talked
11:29to a couple people
11:30who have vetted him and uh he's kind of a bro I guess is the best way to put it
11:34uh like I don't know
11:36that he has like the the alpha that you might be looking for in a quarterback but he's cocky
11:44and he kind of can come off that way there's a lot of like Texas to him I guess is
11:48the best way to put
11:48it you know uh which isn't a bad thing in a quarterback but that's sort of his personality
11:54a little bit like the Brett Favre gunslinger type you know uh and like I do think like a big
12:00part of
12:01this is going to be like figuring if if something does wind up turning here he does wind up
12:07finding a way into the league um you know the huge part of the vetting process for all the teams
12:13is going to be going to teammates going to strength coaches going to the sports psychologist
12:20going to all the people that aren't coaches that know him um that are going to be able to figure
12:26out
12:27okay like is this an addict or is this a stupid kid in a dorm room who is pressing you
12:33know hitting
12:34the button on DraftKings or FanDuel or whatever too many times you know okay is he is he truly going
12:41to move past it or is this going to come up again because you know obviously a huge part of
12:45this is
12:46like if he gets caught again I don't think the NFL is going to really show much leniency
12:52you know and punishing him uh and look like I think part of this too if you want to like
12:57dig into
12:58that I mean don't you guys think part of this I don't want to like upset anybody who might be
13:02a
13:02sponsor yours but isn't part of this like how easy it is to gamble now yes yes and I I
13:09also think
13:09there's some potential hypocrisy there with the amount of money the NFL takes in from gambling
13:14companies to then do this to again somebody just trying to find a pathway in the league well they're
13:20protecting those relationships too though remember because the NFL because those companies like
13:25whether it's you know Caesars or DraftKings or FanDuel or whoever else like those companies like this is
13:33as bad for them as it is for the league you know and these companies can't have any sort of
13:38appearances that any of this stuff isn't on the level you know I mean I just wrote my column like
13:45you
13:46walk into a casino there are more cameras than a network headquarters there's more compliance
13:50people than a that that's been on wall than there are on wall street you know it's I mean it's
13:56heavily
13:56regulated for a reason you know it's if anybody thinks like any of this stuff isn't on the level
14:02it's going to cost everybody in a really big way and that includes those companies you know
14:06and so it's it's as much of their interest as is the NFL that this stuff is you know that
14:13this stuff
14:14is dealt with harshly because it's you know part of their business model so I think the NFL is
14:19protecting those partnerships as well um and yeah there is hypocrisy you know what I mean because
14:25I mean nowhere in that letter from Larry Therizani did say well yeah we're also like protecting
14:31DraftKings here but that's exactly what you're doing Albert great stuff buddy we release you back to your
14:36family and hopefully a tame off season but it never really is in the NFL we appreciate you bud
14:42all right thanks guys Albert Breer of the MMQB on the Y chart right we make it right call Kyle
14:48right hotline
14:49right hotline
Comments