The NFL Trade Bonanza (feat. Carmen Vitali and JD Bunkis)

Well, bad news. The alleged experts have already declared this year's QB draft class is no good.

Good news. We can use this time to get our ducks in a row and create a time cap, so I'll

addressing this question. Which QB draft class is the best in the history of people?

Oh, good one, Dave. But you know, Dave, it's going to be tough to answer what was a bunch of

the guys still playing. So part of this is predicting what we haven't seen yet. But what we've

already seen from the 2024 class has them collectively in the conversation for history's greatest.

To this point, the 21st century's gold standard is the art for group, which does unfortunately

include JP Lossman, but also Eli Manning, Phil Rivers, and Ben Rothisberger. I can buy four

lambarties and five Super Bowl appearances. Most people, though, will still say the 83 class

as tops. John L. Waijin, Kelly, Dan Marino, also champagne, Tony Eason, through for what it's

worth started Super Bowl 20 for the Pats and underrated Ken O'Brien. And also Todd Blacklatch,

who does not own one of the classes three gold jackets or 11 Super Bowl appearances.

The group won just two totals of parties, one of which might have been for John, but both

were more thanks to Terrell Davis than any QB out there. The 24 classes off to a historic start.

We can give Michael Penix an incomplete to this point. And while I know, little number nine,

JJ McCarthy's already got some skeptics, he gets one too. There's also Drake May, who just started

Super Bowl 60. And by the way, he was hurt. There's Bonix, who I think would have started that

Super Bowl. If he hadn't been hurt, then there's Caleb Williams, who appeared transformed by Ben

Johnson. And don't forget the guy who a year ago, we all agreed was the best of that bunch,

Jayden Daniels, who pulled off the rare feed of starting a title game as a rookie.

At the moment, at least, we can't rightly say any of these guys are busts, which would be a

distinguishing quality compared with the other classes. Then again, how about 2020?

Burrow, Herbert, Jordan Love, and early second rounder, Jalen Hertz, he

have the two Super Bowls in one Lombardi. Even the biggest flop of the early round group too,

I can't rightly be called a bust. At least not yet. He just got bonked on the head a little bit

too much. And the 2018 guys who seem ancient at this point have maybe the best shot.

Mayfield, Darnell, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen, Lamar Jackson, one Super Bowl appearance,

one Lombardi, and three MVP trophies between him. Save to say Allen and Lamar, at least,

will get gold jackets, if not sizeable, bobbled. But what if either of those guys does win a

Super Bowl? Well, then I think it's game over for this whole debate. One thing seems clear,

you better have that 83 class versus odd four class debate now, because I suspect it's going

to be antiquated in about a half decade or so. Meantime, let's start the show.

Yes, hi. Hello, my fellow football Americans. Welcome to football America. We're presented as

ever by our pals at Draft Kings. Draft Kings, the crown is yours. This stands as our free agent

primer for you. We've got two great guests coming up real quick. It's episode number 54,

Mike Fuentes, your brother, Gino remains out best to him at home. Tell us who is the greatest

player to ever wear the number 54. Well, Brian or lacquer has to be considered. Buffalo,

Buffalo, look at me. I'm still thinking about that thing. Chicago Bears legend also ran

you white considered as of late Bobby Wagner still playing. But for me, anything, it's got to be

Anvil for ahead. Hall of Famer, Zach Thomas, by the way, took him way too long again to

hold a fame in Salta. By the way, Ethan, thanks for filling in as usual. You get to answer for

the fellows behind the glass down there in Miami. And by the way, I should also say great times

one more time down in Miami with with everybody filling in for Dan Levitard. Last week,

thanks to everybody there in that weird little office space down in the park and garage,

somewhere in downtown Miami, Badowski, quickly, which is going to be 10 years, let's say,

from right now, the greatest QB class ever. Well, I would still lean 84 or 83 because L.

Way and Marino, like you're just not going to get much better than two of the 10 greatest

quarterbacks that have ever played the game. I don't think at least, but it's hard to say in the

moment that when you never know, like Alan and Alan and Lamar Jackson being in the same draft

class, like it might be the same thing. Plus, right? Exactly. So it's like, it's hard to say,

but I would lean that 84 or the 20, that would be 2018, right? With 2020 class, I'm pretty low on

to be honest with you. Like, I'm not as high on those guys as some other people are, but also,

they could start stacking super bowls. But I would say 84 or the Lamar Alan class.

All right, let's get into some NFL free agency. I suspect we'll sprinkle in some hockey as well

with our pals, Bunkas and Vitale. Here we go. All right. How can we have a proper round table

about all things free agency and maybe some other stuff that involves the game of life with just one

person? No, I think we need to tap into Dave's digital rolodex and get two of the best voices

in the biz, people talking into microphones. First of all, Carmen Vitale from Fox Sports Radio,

like I say, as good as it gets on Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Chicago Bears, really NFL at large,

and then up in the capital, like, is it really, is it, it's not the capital of Canada? It's the

capital of hockey. Yeah. From sports net 590, the fan, it's our guy JD Bunkas. Also,

make sure you're checking out the podcast he does named after himself. So vain. How are you JD Bunkas?

Yeah, you would never do such a thing. Never. That's not my way. How are you, Carmen Vitale? What's

happening? I'm great. Yeah. Doing well. DJ Moore's a bill. I guess we can start

your thoughts, Carmen. No, listen, when I saw that the Bears got a return of a second round pick

for DJ Moore, that was, it seemed like the writing was on the wall regardless, especially from

Ryan Paul's comments this off season during the Combine in particular, where he talked so much about,

oh, there's going to have to be some really tough decisions made. And we were all just kind of like,

all right, so DJ Moore has gone. And now that that's happened, I mean, I thought his value really

capped out at like four. And to see that they got a two in return, which means the Bears would be

picking twice in four picks in the second round, that was a deal that you do all day. And you know,

I think that that was one of the Bears deepest position areas, right? Like they have a plethora

of offensive weapons for Caleb Williams and that water seeper room in particular. DJ was the

veteran there. So I think from a locker room standpoint, he will be missed. And I will personally

selfishly miss him because it means his kids won't be running around as much and you won't get

to see all those interactions. So it's really fun. Anything he was needed this last season because

that room is so young, but offensively, I don't really think that the Bears are really taking much

of a hit at this point, especially with, you know, going into your two wonder Ben Johnson and understand

the scheme that much more. And those young players having that much more experience, I just,

especially given the return. And I think that this was the whole run for the Bears.

Yeah, I suspect they'll just keep loading up at the line of scrimmage there.

Bunkus. How about you love looking at the NFC West stuff? So how do you react to the Rams getting

Trent McDuffy there? Who wins that deal? The chiefs are the Rams. Well, I got to tell you that

it's weird to me for both teams. One, like I'll just never understand the NFL salary cap.

Like the idea that the Rams are just grabbing McDuffy and there's training out of first. I'm like,

oh, I was not aware that they were one of the teams that had the luxury of making a move like this.

But here we are. It's super weird. This has gone on with the Rams for like eight years. That's

what they seem to have like double the money of everybody else. Every year, they're allowed to just

trade out draft picks, take on salaries, and there's just no repercussions. Like the Minnesota Vikings,

how would you feel if you're a fan of that team where it's like they're gutting it, right? You just

watch Sam Darnold win a Super Bowl. They're trying to gut their roster and move off of pieces.

All I see is after they've made these moves, they're still like $20 million over the cap.

And I'm like, what did they do? They got a quarterback on a rookie contract. They let Sam

Darnold go. And yet they're completely capped out in the LA Rams, which is grabbing McDuffy for a

late first. Is that deal actually done? Like what again, I don't know the rules. Is that deal

like officially consummated carbon? I think so because of the fact that yeah, like it's a trade.

So it has nothing to do with like free agency and all that. So that's sort of gone. That should go

through. I don't think there was any deferment either as far as like what they weren't training.

So yeah, I've read everything I know about how this all works. I also have to say

it's right, McDuffy is like one of my favorite players in the entire league. So good. So

I'm so thrilled and I still don't I'm with you guys. I don't understand how the Rams do this stuff.

Like I mean, the reason they do it is or like it's just an F them picks philosophy and they're

back to it after you know, they had what three years without a first round pick. And this

this year they had two first round picks. So you know less need wasn't hanging onto that.

Like there was just no way they talk about me first round picks at all. So I think you can get

a proven player. I mean, I don't know if it's enough to change the philosophy of like

people teams around the league, but it's certainly worked out for them to go after proven

players versus trying to draft and develop. Well, I'll say this. I mean, it's really I think very

within the realm of possibility. Obviously, and I bet it has among the shortest odds of Super Bowl 61

matchups is Rams chiefs. I think both teams win out of this. I know the chiefs get lighter on

the back end. But if Stafford's back holds up, I think they kind of as much as I have laughed

about the Seahawks, the defending world champs having longer odds to win the NFC West,

then another team. They just won the Super Bowl. How do they have longer odds than anybody?

But anyhow, I can kind of buy the Rams as being the NFC favorite.

Real quick, as we look back at Super Bowl 60 though, I'm going to be, by the way, for these next

20 minutes, the both of you and the listener should steal yourselves. I'm going to be all over the

place here. I'm bouncing all over the place. That's what I like about watching you. Yeah,

good thing we all have ADHD here, right? There's already like four different things that I want to

go. I'm like, I want to go back to the bills. I want to go back to the bears. I still want to talk

about the chiefs. Like, yes, the Seahawks. Wow. The Seahawks, be a team, the New England Patriots,

and we agree. Bunkus, I'm going to start with you. Drake May was hurt, right?

If they ever say so, then he had to be. He had to be. Although, Kate, can I ask you this,

do you really think the game would have gone all that different if his shoulder was 30% better?

Yes. Yes. I don't. I mean, it was, I was think about where we were as halftime approached.

If the, if you can figure out as the Patriots to scratch out a touchdown, the game is completely

different as you go to the half, right? Yeah. I guess maybe we could play the ifsens or butts game

with that team. They'll never admit it because, first of all, they're already the number one

cheater organization for what? Like the next two decades of football that we're going to be looking

at them that way. So the idea that they fudge an injury report, even though, like, weirdly,

Carmichael, now the time they cheat, it hurts their optics. Like, they have to be quiet about it.

I just, I think that Seattle was just so far in a way, the better team, and that the Super Bowl,

as I had said many, many times, was going to be played during the NFC championship game. Like,

I don't doubt. I know you said that. You hammered that point. A lot of other people did as well,

not to. Yeah, I don't think that I was the only one who was saying that. I was so unique. Like,

what on your Mount Pius being the one who had the only take that way, I do look at the Rams still

as the favorite to come out of the NFC. Like, I just think of the way that that game against the

Seahawks went. It was razor thin. They still have a lot of talent. There's some question marks

about Seattle too. Now I'm moving forward, right? Like, Kenneth Walker was pretty important during

that playoff run, and Charbonne is coming off of an injury. And they don't seem all that

interested in paying Kenneth Walker. There was like this weird interaction they had at the Super Bowl

parade that I think went a little under the radar where John Schneider drunkenly was like,

and he's begging me to come back. And then a day later, Kenneth Walker issued a statement with

his agent that was like, yeah, we never said anything like that. We want money. We want opportunity.

We have not negotiated in good faith. It's a Seattle Seahawks. I think she he was really important.

Like, if you look at that game against the Rams that ultimately gave them home field advantage,

that tilted on a Shaheed pun return. The Rams were weak when it came to their special teams.

It was game over, right? You felt was there any game when he wound up in the end zone?

You're like, no flags. I thought this league had ruled out touchdowns on kickoffs, but

here we are. And now the Niners are cooked 100%. So I just like, I don't know, man, I'm a little

nervous about what exactly the Seahawks are going to do now because John Schneider's track record

has been, hey, I'm a really good draft and develop guy. I'll make a really good core. And then all

of a sudden, he starts to get trade crazy. And I've already seen things like, hey, they don't really

love this draft. And they really like Max Crosby. And that makes me think about Jamal Adams.

And this window being shorter and then making kind of one of those stupid trades and sort of like a

heat check moment from John Schneider where he's feeling himself. And he's like, I could do whatever I

want. I got a ton of calf space. I got all my draft fix. I'm going to do this kind of stuff. And like

to Carmen's point about the bears, that's why it's like, there's sort of one of the most interesting

teams from a, if you were a fan of any team right now, who would you want to be standpoint? And for

Chicago, it's like, you moved DJ Moore for a second round pick as Carmen pointed out, like that's

better value than you thought you were going to get. You feel like you're well run. You feel like

you hit a home run with the offensive coordinator that people were like, well, is he too much of a

dork? Is he going to be able to actually connect as a head coach? Well, that's already passed

with flying colors. You've got two young wide receivers that everybody's excited about. A quarterback

that's everybody's excited about money to move around on your defense draft capital to add to your

defense. Like, yeah, that one feels good to bills though. Like, aren't you guys really interested

in the bills side of that trade? Because that to me is like, you traded for Shakir Plus.

Yeah. I mean, I think you, I'll let Carmen go on this at greater length. I like the move.

I think it's, it's time. It's desperate hours. If you're the Buffalo bills and you got to

reach if you need to, you got to go get somebody into you. Want to definitely, I know we've

gotten very glib about, well, just, well, get get rid of that guy and bring in AJ Brown.

Is there, are people paying attention to AJ Brown? Are you sure you want to bring that in,

in house right now, Carmen? It's interesting because I think that it looks great to say, like,

oh, yeah, like DJ Moore is a wide receiver one and he can handle, like, he can handle all of those

responsibilities and this, that, the other, but like, you look at DJ Moore's profile,

and what Josh Allen has historically been good at throwing to you, or it's been a successful

connection. DJ Moore doesn't really fit that, like, he's not big enough to me, but I like to go

up for, like, those 50-50 balls, like, he's not going to win those. And so it's interesting, like,

I don't want to say DJ Moore is not a wide receiver one, but I'm spending that much on a guy,

like, makes me think, like, why didn't you then just go after Alec Pierce? Why didn't you go after,

like, something like that, like, like, like the best wide receiver, if getting a wide receiver

one meant that much to you, and that's what you wanted to prioritize, and especially with, like,

some of the people that the bills are conceitably letting hit free agency, like, across the roster,

where you're freeing up potential money and an ability to do that. Why not just go after, like,

the best you could possibly get, if you're going to pay a price like that, especially. So I don't

know. I like the move from the, like, I just, I think I like the move less now that I know what

the compensation is. I think that's what it boils down to. The pushback I would do is whether you

think DJ Moore really stands as a, as a true number one, what it does weirdly allow for is

Keon Coleman to slot as your number two instead of the pay that he's going to do. I was going to say,

I feel like the on Coleman is plotting in there, number off the roster.

So the bills are Toronto's team, right? Like, we just had a Raptor's Nick's game in town last night,

and it's Bill's night. Trace Immigrady and Vince Carter who are, I guess,

partial owners of the bills to some effect. I'm not exactly really sure what they own. It feels

like a JZ ownership stake where like they've got the, the 1%, but either way, they have bills

night. We've got the T shirts out. Everybody loves the bills here. I just, I don't think Keon Coleman

is an option for their future. Like, I think that ship is sailed. It's, it was so bad there this year

with that guy, not just from a talent standpoint, but everything that happened behind the scenes.

I just don't know how you could bring him back. And if he burns you again, justify that happening

with your locker room where that veteran team is having to like stick up for that guy.

The thing with DJ Moore is like, I agree with Carmware. I don't know. I kind of think that he's had

an opportunity to be a number one now in two different spots. And if he's your number one guy,

it's a little underwhelming. If he's one of the guys in a really talented group, you feel like

that's awesome. But that's not really what the bills have. And then I think about like I mentioned,

Khalil Shakir, that's the guy there. Like, love it or don't. He's been the guy for the Buffalo

Bills. They're most reliable target. And there's like a little redundancy with me with those guys.

Like, I agree. Like they need the 50 50 ball guy. And yeah, like I get what you're saying,

Dave about going out and getting AJ Brown, where he comes with different issues. But normally,

when you go get the issue guy, the first year can be a bit of a human. Yeah. So it's like, if

you've got Josh Allen, George, right? Well, for at least 10 games, right? I'm still waiting on

that. That's going to happen. That's an inevitability. Yeah. 10 games. The George pick is a now

franchise tag. George, because I'm sure this is going to be delightful for Cowboys fans. But

I don't know. I just, I think I would have gone for something that was a little higher upside.

If that was the price point. And to me, it's like, okay, if DJ Moorv is a move and you've decided,

we're going to use a second on pick to go get this guy. And now we're going to do other like,

we want to be in on Mike Evans. We're going to pay to go get Mike Evans. He's going to be our

jump ball guy. That's when I say, okay, this looks good. But up until that moment, the DJ Moor thing,

if that's their move, which has kind of been the Buffalo Billsie thing, right? They go out and get

one guy and they're like, we did it. Yeah. If that's the move, I don't think that this actually

changes the ceiling of that offense, especially since they're likely to lose their center.

Um, Carmen, what do you think of? I'm like, I say bouncing around here, Drake May, do you think he

was hurt? Do you buy? I mean, it certainly seems that was the case and the Patriots were bitten by

their own snake that they couldn't say publicly was hurt. But Josh Dobbs taking reps the weekend

before the Super Bowl probably was the tell there. My question is, are you allowed to be heard on a

Mike Brabable team? Is Mike Brabable going to say that every game is a must-win game,

according to that Brabable I ask. Exactly. And then the actual must-win game of the Super Bowl,

are you even allowed to say that you're hurt or to like come to Mike Brabable be like, hey,

man, my shoulder hurts. He's gonna be like, I don't care. Go shoot up with something.

What happens if Josh Dobbs starts that game, Carmen? I don't, I mean, I don't think that it goes

any differently, honestly, because I also, I mean, this is my, this is my wheelhouse is the trenches,

right? And you look at how Seattle's defensive line just completely outmaned the Patriots offensive

line in that second half in particular. I mean, I think they did a natural job to your guy's

point in the first half where you're like, okay, maybe this is something that is, you know, they

could be a little bit more back and forth. And maybe they are a little bit more evenly matched.

Then we gave the Patriots credit for. But at the end of the day, I think it just showed how much

work they still have to do on that offensive line because it was, they weren't even a year removed

from how terrible it was or I guess a year removed from how terrible it wasn't Drake May's first

season where I was terrified for him to get thrown in there because I thought he was going to get

killed. So I think you just, you don't fix a lot of those issues overnight and, and in one year.

And I think that that showed. And I think just in general, the Patriots were a team that like,

they're just young. They haven't been together for very long under Mike Brabable. And they were

just a little bit more volatile and they managed to make the Super Bowl. But Seattle, I'm with

CJD. Seattle was by far and away the better team, the more complete team, especially when you

consider how dominant that defense was. And then on top of that, you had the offense that was

really, really good. I'm not going to say a lead or a grade or whatever under Sam with Sam

Darld. And like Sam Darld did exactly what he needed him to do to keep up and to score enough

points that the defense could be like, all right, we only have to allow, we don't have to allow,

like the defense was never going to allow for like 10 or 15 points. So it as long as you can score

more than that, which Sam Darld showed you was capable of. I mean, I think that was always the

Seahawks game. Well, I kind of bring this up to tee up this conversation. You know, Patriots fans,

like I said, about Broncos fans after the AFC title game, they will lament for the next

two to seven decades that we would have won that game if our starting quarterback would have

been available. And I suspect that Patriots fans, if it ever is revealed yet, Drake may have

messed up shoulder, they'll be like, it would have been different if the thing is nobody cares

outside of your fan base. No one will ever remember that. As far as that goes, JD Bunkis.

If number 87 kid Crosby plays in the gold medal game, Canada surely wins, right?

I really believe so. I believe that till the day I die. Of course, he's doing the bogeyman

for the United States. I think that like, like there's, yeah, I see they,

I win, win, win, win, win, win. Crosby's golden goal was four on four.

Win, win, win, win, win. That's all I hear. You know what, though? That is the truth of the

batter in terms of the knowledge of some hockey fans. They think four on four and three on three

are the same thing. Like they're like, yeah, this is no different than these two things. So that

Sydney Crosby doesn't matter. Like he is. Why isn't it four on four, by the way? Why isn't it five

on five? Why neither were five on five? So we're both of them bullshit. If neither of them were five

on five, no, but I think we would agree that four on four is more legitimate than three on three.

Like I just think you add a guy. It's all the same. Here's everybody plays with the same

one. Well, here's the thing. In a hockey game, you can have a double minor where two guys

are removed from the play and all of a sudden you have four on four hockey. There's no such thing

as three on three hockey in a regular season game. Like it just doesn't happen. You can't go to

the playoffs. You can't do it. So I do think four on four is more legit. I will say this. Like

America won. They get the flowers. They hung around the game. The goal tender counts. And guess what?

Going into the tournament, the biggest question for Team Canada was, do they have a goalie?

And how do their goal tenders compare against the American goal tenders right now? In our country,

we have like one thing that's viewed as a true hockey crisis. We're still pumping out the

superstars, right? Like Team USA still has not like they can point to these jackused type players

or Austin Matthews types players. They have not been able to develop the superstars. Like the

kid we brought up, Macklin Celebrini. He was 19 years old. He was the second best player in the

tournament. They have not had a city cross me. They have not had economic David. They have not

even had really an eighth in McKinnon if we're being honest. What they have done is they've completely

tilted the board when it comes to goal tending. The US has probably at least six goal tenders

who could have played for Team Canada. It's so weird, right? It's a very strange. That's the case.

Well, and this is where kids are more unhinged. Yeah. That's a great point. That's why.

And you guys have a better development system right now when it comes to goal tether. And this is

where I get into regional politics of Canada. Quebec didn't give us anybody for our roster. It's one

of our biggest provinces. It's what they're supposed to do. That's where Patrick was from. That's

where Martin Broderes from. And really, this is not a failure of Canada so much as it is a

failing of Quebec. Like they have not given us the French next goal. I was saying blame the French

and that's the way that I'm looking at this is like I blame the format. Of course, I blame not

having Cindy Crosby. I'll have excuses till the day I die for that a little bit. You guys were so

happy. Crosby didn't play so that you had an excuse built in. You were so happy about it. Excuse

built in right from the beginning. It's not a valid excuse. I'll tell you right now. We didn't.

No, everybody here was desperate to see him. Of course, of course, of course. As I keep saying,

if John Cooper were given the choice, you can have pie in the sky. Who do you definitely want

available for the gold medal game? I think it goes. Cal McCarr one, Sydney Crosby two over

MacJeezus or anyone else. How say you? No, they would still choose, McDavid. Like he's just a

yeah, he's just a different player. Like he's so unbelievable. Like, he's got three games now.

It's listen, someone made the Josh Allen parallel with him. I don't know. Yeah, that's actually kind of

no, you're right. That's kind of a good parallel. Different kind of player. He's a loser. Yeah.

Just like Josh Allen. No, but that's it. It's like we all agree that right now they're the best in their

sport. The differences, McDavid is better than Josh Allen. Much better. Like the gap between him

and the next guy is monumental. There's no trade and hockey that would be made where you're like,

you traded caught even for Cal McCarr, even for like, you know, some of the best players,

Quinn Hughes. It doesn't matter who you put together. If you move them out for Conor McDavid,

you end up losing that thing. So he's still just number one with a bullet. He's still the guy

that you wanted with the puck on his stick, like in any big spot. And I think that he did choke a

little in that game. If you want to have that conversation like in three on three, he tried to make a

play that was like, this is the Edmonton Oilers facing the Vegas Golden Knights in the midst of

the regular season. Look on the ice in that three on three. That's it. I am with you largely about

the argument. That should have been your advantage. Yeah. I mean, those are the three guys you have on

the ice when the goal is scored. It's pretty wild. 100% Carmen indulge me this and then we'll talk

some free agents have so many things I want to get to with the two of you and I can tell already

I'm not I'm going to get to a very. There's better be a hockey question because I have things to say

about three on three two. Are you offended by his tweet in the in the moments following that goal?

I'm going to put it up here right now. It's right. I'll read it for you and the listener.

Honestly, if you're an American celebrating that win, you're a casual who doesn't know puck.

Totally fine. Grow the game. JD Bunkus and he heard about it. I kept saying throughout the entire

game. I was like, we don't deserve to win this game. We do not deserve to win this game. We played

like dog. Can I swear on this? Sure. That was like we play like dog shit for most of the game.

And then it took the most volatile over time period that you could possibly have which I don't

understand for the Olympics because I like who doesn't want more Olympic hockey true Olympic hockey.

I want a full five on five over time period at least before you start taking men off the ice.

This is insane that it goes directly to three on three that was absolutely nuts. And then yeah,

it becomes more volatile and it just becomes kind of like a toss up at that point where it's like

a coin flip. And I don't like that. And I also was like I was screaming at the Americans more than

anything during that game about like their transitions and how their goalie was literally the one

that kept them in the game. So I mean, that was amazing. And you talk about the goal tending

development here in the States, which is awesome. But most of the time I was like, are you kidding?

Like I was yelling at the Americans that they were lucky to not be down more for most of that

game. So yeah, the Americans got out played for the entire time up until one it mattered. And so

I don't have really an issue saying that. And I, but listen, at the end of the day, what matters?

Thank you, Connor. I'll talk about. Thank you, Connor. Thank you.

In terms of the tweet, Dave, you know me. So you knew what I was going for, which is I'm trying

to joke around. Of course, America's we're going to celebrate that. Like the idea that you wouldn't

celebrate a win is as crazy. I wrote that tweet sitting in the back of an Uber with my best friend

laughing about the most crybaby things that we could say. It is a crybaby tweet. It's a hundred

percent that it's me being salty. It's me trolling 100% when Dave Porton always starts

retweeting it. And I'm getting called out on part of my take. I'm happy. Like this is the

right. Bunkest wins after all. Right. Well, here's the thing is you do a troll like that because

you want a kernel of it to be true, which is most people that were celebrating that game south of

the border. Don't watch hockey. Like they tuned in for just this hockey game. And so you're in

it's like any type of gatekeeping. When you're a gatekeeper, you know it kind of works to trigger

people because there's a kernel of truth to that thing. And so you throw that out there and it

gets people pissed off. And the funny thing I find about the whole like you don't know puck

thing or whatever, because like I really don't care. I think the more of the marry with hockey

and in truth, I think can't outplay them. They should have won that game. They do have a couple

of excuses. But ultimately, Carm's right. What matters is you get the win. And if can't a one

three on three, we'd be celebrating it all the same. Thank you. Thank you. It would have been

the exact same thing. But what I will say is that we do the exact same chirp to each other.

And I think it's the only time this has ever happened in the history of sports. If the Americans

win, we say you don't care. And if you guys win, what do you say? We don't even care about hockey.

And so it's like, it's the only church. It's the exact it's the exact trip that goes both ways.

And yet both sides get upset about it, no matter which side that you're on.

It is funny, because I said the bunk is about the tweet that it's sort of like, you know,

and then you flip it, Austin Matthews, the captain for the Toronto Maple Leafs, which is

Canada's team, much like, you know, the Dallas Cowboys are America's team. So it would be the

equivalent, I guess, of Dak Prescott representing Mexico and beating the US in football, right,

Carmen. I mean, you can get why the emotion. Yeah, I see that. And except 40% of Canada's

population lives in southern Ontario, 40%. So imagine if the Dallas Cowboys had nearly half

the population of your country, it all congregated in one place. Well, to the outside world,

most people think that to be fair or like before, like, how big is Texas? Yeah, it's

big. It's just what we're Carmen is that most provinces hate the Leafs. Although people will

push back or let's talk some football here very quickly here. We can go quick on this because I

want to get into into your personal thoughts on free agency. But let's let's nuts and bolts in

here. Start with you, Carmen. When the dust settles, where will these guys be for the 2026 NFL

season? Malik Willis. Okay. Oh, gosh. Minnesota Vikings. Oh, that sounds uninspired. You can

push back on that one, Bunkus or you can tackle Mike Evans. I want to say that I want to see

weirdly Malik Willis. Like, I think what would be fun is him and Arizona, where it's like he

replaces Kyler Murray, but he's asked to basically do the same thing. Same thing they have. Yeah,

but like they have weapons there. And I like he's the most interesting free agent quarterback.

I guess you could make the case for Kyler, but I feel like we've seen more of Kyler. So there's

less mystery there. Malik Willis is the black box where we're like, hey, maybe this is Matt Flynn,

2.0. Maybe this is actually the next Sam Darnold, where he gets an opportunity and he's awesome.

So I'd like to see him with the Cardinals. I also think it would be fun to see him like with

the dolphins, like just, hey, go out and be the guy there. But I don't, oh, those guys,

the dolphins feds are not. I'm not into it. I'm not into it. I would let viewers ride this

year out and just go full tank mode and see if you have anything there. And if not, try again

for a quarterback next year, or I'd bring it, like I would rather have Kyler Murray for super cheap

than Malik Willis for $60 million, honestly. I rather not do anything and just do viewers.

If you're going to tank, do the full tank, because Kyler Murray is good enough to win you some

games. That's just going to tank your draft pick. So just go full viewers lost season. It's not like

I haven't had the last 25 been lost on me anyway. So one more, what's one more going to hurt? You know,

I mean, I'm still stunned that Carmen of all the available options to Malik Willis. I assume

he would have to be promised the gig, right? To sign there. He's not going to be like, I'll compete

with JJ McCarthy with number nine for the starting game. You would have handed it to him, which

would indicate. And Carmen, you, my ears perk up when you say that because do you know something

about KOC? But I mean, what he says publicly doesn't align with it. They seem to be claiming,

like, yeah, JJ's our guy. Yeah, they do, but also like what have their actions told you,

which is what like what I go off of, which is like, I don't have to make it work after

Darnell did what they have to lean into it now. They do, but they also don't have a GM

effectively right now. So like, that's the other thing too, where I'm like, okay, what is,

I guess, the reason that like, and that was an, it's an off the wall answer for sure, but it's one

of those things where I'm kind of like, all right, if you're going to root for something like chaos,

I think that that's it because the teams are so familiar with each other. What we've seen as

a trend in this division is like the inter division, inter division trades. And if you look at where

KOC is comfortable and who he knows, well, who does he know really well? He knows not the floor

really well. And like, they come from the same tree. And so I just, I think that there's something

there. I don't know if it's like how actually realistic it is, but I also don't think that they

essentially think that JJ McCarthy is the guy anymore or like don't at all because

firing quasi-adoufumensa after seeing Sam Darnell get to the Super Bowl.

Just it, it, it, it tells me that they're like, we made a mistake. And

it's kind of like who traded Luca get him out. I thought they traded. I thought they fired him

because he took Pat leave for too long. Well, yeah, that was the right, like there was that was

the concern, right? But like that tells me that like we made a mistake. And the other part of saying

we made a mistake is that we don't have that guy on the roster because you still believed in

JJ McCarthy. Then don't you keep the guy that got him? Like I that to me, there's something wrong

there's something you're right about that. Okay, next up, let's go with bunkers Ken Walker.

Oh God, can I say this is the one guy where I really want him back in Seattle. Like I don't, I don't

get why these two sides can't figure this one out. Like $8 million, right? $78 million?

Well, again, like this is a guy who it's a free agent running back and it's a fairly deep running

back class. So the idea that he's going to get something like astronomical that you just can't get

off of to me, that doesn't compute because we just saw Sequan Barkley when he hit for agency what he

got. This guy's not Sequan Barkley. So isn't he going to get something a little bit more reasonable?

If you're Seattle, are you really going to use your first round pick to draft a running back and

have the unknown of bringing that in? That feels like what the chiefs kept doing after their

Super Bowl wins and they. Snyder's not opposed to using high picks on runners.

Yeah. Yeah. And guess what? It worked out to the effect of getting first round running

backs that had zero careers with the Seattle Seahawks. So I just want to see Walker return.

This one just makes too much sense to me. Charbonne is coming off of an injury. Why would you

want to assume? And like, Charbonne is a good change of pace back. I like him. He's a good

past blocker. There's like, there's things about him I enjoy, but I don't look at him and be like,

wow, he's such a dynamic runner. He's not going to make those plays like the game against the

Niners where it's like, you can just misplit, make people miss in the hole the way that Kenneth

Walker can. He's a dynamic weapon. He makes so much sense for this team. You have a proof of

concept. He fits in with the room. Like, I just don't know why this would be. And again,

I don't understand NFL free agency at all. I understand. I don't get it. I know they got to pay

JSN. I know they got to pay Devon, Devon with their spoon eventually. But as of this moment,

I think that they're like six most salary cap in the NFL. Yeah. That's the crazy part.

I can't, I can't get over the fact that the Seattle Seahawks coming off of the Super Bowl have

the six most cap space of any team. And also the fact that they're willing to let Kenneth Walker

walk because I'm like, wait, if you have the money, why wouldn't you keep him for all of the

reviews? It's very strange. It's which makes me again, like sends off alarm bells. Like, why,

if you have the money, are you going after someone that you can't afford to keep him or like,

what's what's happening here? The only thing I can figure is that potentially he made

a lot of noise about wanting to be a bell cow back and didn't like one of the highest

days carries. Yeah. So he wants to be higher paid and he doesn't feel like maybe they're evaluating

him as one of those bell cow backs that they're trying to pay him like he's a time share running

back. But in terms of like fit, money, opportunity, what you know, like again, I just I can't think

of a place that makes more sense for Kenneth walk like what you want to go be a Tennessee Titan.

Enjoy. Like, I just think Seattle Seahawks make by far the most sense for Kenneth Walker

and that, God, I just really do hope that cooler heads prevail there.

I'll say you car me V on the aforementioned Mike Evans.

Don't do this to me. I don't want to. I was just talking about it. I was like, listen,

you made the case for him and Buffalo and it's a good one. I don't want to admit it though,

because I don't want to see him in a uniform other than to be back in years. But I'm biased.

I spent six years of my career there and I spent six years of my career with Mike.

I adore him as a human. He's very funny. He's hysterical, first of all. He's got the best

like interests like him and I aligned very much on the Harry Potter stuff and that's essentially

how we bonded. I bought like his wife is actually funnier. His wife is hysterical. I love her so

much and she runs that house and she's like five foot nothing and she just runs Mike. It's awesome.

I love her to death, Ashley. But I also think that there's a stubbornness with Jason

like when it comes to Mike Evans because of the fact that that was his first ever draft pick.

And Jason doesn't necessarily operate like that normally. But I do think that the Tampa is going

to do whatever they can to keep him. And I also think that Mike essentially wants to stay there.

He wants to finish out his career in the place that it started. He's an incredibly loyal guy.

And I do think that there are situations that could lure him away from their i.e. Buffalo,

especially if like, you know, now that you have DJ Moore, you add Mike Evans and you add a

couple more pieces and you think, okay, this, this, this team could really be, I know we say it

every offseason. It's like could really be a contender this year. This could really be a bills year.

And I think that there are some extraordinary circumstances that could lure Mike away from Tampa.

But I think they, they would have to be just that. They would have to be extraordinary because of

the fact that I know how loyal Mike is, how much that staff wants to keep him. And also that like,

I don't know that Tampa would like, they don't want to lose that piece of their offense for

myriad reasons. So I really think that Mike stays in Tampa. I truly do think that's the most

likely option. But I do think that there are just, there are a couple teams that could present a

really tempting case. I don't know the dynamic about quarterbacks making receivers better than

they might actually otherwise be is well known. I think Mike Evans is the number one since back to

the A&M days of making whatever quarterback he has a look a little bit better because the

holder back actually is, which is why here's a wild card for you. You don't have to react to this.

The team on the banks of the three rivers is desperate for a wide receiver. They haven't had one

now. We're now in the year three of them not having a viable second wide receiver. I wouldn't be,

so I think they're all in on Aaron Rogers. Is that first of all your take on that one? I'll go with

you. Bunk is for as a human being. If you happen to catch him on McAfee or elsewhere,

do you think it's a done deal that he's going back to Pittsburgh? Yeah. Yeah. I do. I think that he's

going back to Pittsburgh. He's going to play one more year, which like I can't think of something

that feels less attractive than that. Like you've got guys in the room talking about how they're

willing to put up with a year of Quinn viewers. I think I would rather the year of Quinn viewers than

the year of. Aaron Rogers. Like I really do. I think that now I thought that was the most

depressing thing that they were like we're so beaten down. There's so much happening. We've seen

so many bad teams just let us watch 17 games of Quinn viewers throw the football that Aaron

Rogers is actually the most depressing of the scenarios. If I'm Mike Evans, I wouldn't even

take that phone call. Like you want to go play with the material Aaron Rogers in a on a terrible

turf where like Mike Evans has to deal with injury. I'm just saying that they're going to be

don't be surprised that the swings they take it. Yeah. Sure. Take a swing all you want. But like

if I have hamstring issues, why would I want to go play on that turf up in the cold like those cold

weather games? That's actually the argument against Buffalo is if I'm Mike Evans and I want to

have a long career, I want to stay where it's warm and I want to stay where it's familiar. And

also if that is a bit, does he have a whole thing case? Yeah. Of course. Yeah. He definitely

does. But I also don't want to reason. I don't think about him that way. I don't think that he's

super caught up in the longevity of his career. Just from things that he said to me, things that

I know about him. Now again, money changes things. But I really think that a lot of this was him

hanging on to have Jerry Rice's record. And then he ended up getting hurt. He went under the

night for the first time in his entire career because like he said, he's had hamstring issues,

but he's never actually had surgery until now. And that's I think he doesn't want to go out like

that, which is why I think he'll continue to play. But I wouldn't bank on him being more like I

wouldn't bank on him being like, Oh, I don't want to play there because I want my career to last

three, four, five more years. Like I don't I don't see him playing. He's got to bring it all that. So

so what's your answer? Yeah. Clearly you're the Evan Whisperer here, Carmie. Where's he going?

Do you think it is Tampa? I think he's staying in Tampa. I really I truly think that I know I'm like

like I said, I'm warning against back non bias, but like I really truly think he's staying in Tampa.

Where's a game brown? Go ahead. Sorry. Oh, let's go say the reason why I ask about the Hall of Fame

question with him is like if you guys all agree that he's like a he's going to go in with certainty.

I do wonder if there's a value for a guy like that and the organization to just say, Hey, wouldn't

it be cool if you wore one uniform? Like wouldn't it be? Yeah, if you became the Tampa Bay Buccaneer,

like the guy that we point to, it's like Mike Evans had his whole career here. It's not like our

situation is one where we can't win games like come back and do this that because the case I was

going to make for Buffalo is to see become the first football player where they do load management

where they're just like, Hey, we need you for the playoffs. We're good enough to be able to get

there. We'll sit you a bunch of games. We'll let you collect paychecks. We'll let you go hang out

with your tiny wife and do your thing and just show up when the games matter the most and be

Josh Allen's jumpball guy. But I think the Tampa thing makes the most sense. I think that my

Gavin should say, I will come back to Tampa, but only if you commit to the cream sickles for 17

regular season games. I agree. I mean, who doesn't I don't mind. I don't mind their uniforms now,

but this is also I started working for them during the alarm clock era of their uniforms and that

was horrendous for so many reasons. Nobody liked them, first of all, not like not even the guys.

And then trying to see numbers from the press box was insane. Like it was just the worst possible

combination. It was it was horrendous. And I was so upset. Yeah, it was it was awful stuff. Now

free agency, my pal handsome Hank Hodgson, king of international football. I forget what his

title is with the NFL properly. But either way, he's always advocated for if you're a free agent,

make sure you run the gamut of all of America's best restaurants. Make sure on the team's dimes,

like travel all over football America, eat it all the best restaurants, then announce where you're

going. Don't don't be in a rush to announce to the tampering period or in the first hour. So I

want to advocate for that. But where would you and I'm going to start with you here, Carmen.

If you just from a human standpoint, not football situation, but just where would you most want

to play in the NFL, if all options were available to you. I don't mean like this team might win.

But I mean, like that stadium, like I would never sign on a team. I would never sign with a team

that would send me to go live in a dormitory for August. Like I'd be like, well, no, I'm not

no, please, I'm an NFL football, but I'm not sleeping in in some dorm room that is in air condition.

House. Yeah. Okay. I've got a couple because of a how I know the organization is run from just

whatever. And I like them and the stadium standpoint. Okay. So Philadelphia is one. And I have most

of my family is actually from Philadelphia. My dad is from there. So like all of his family is still

in the dry state area. So I love I love the link as it as a stadium. It's awesome. It is underrated.

I agree with you. It's sick. It is. It's just solid. It's like it's really sick. And they have

the Philadelphia soft pretzels are like just from that childhood thing that I just adore. So like,

you get those in the press box and it's so much in the state of Pennsylvania. Those those

Philly cheese things, those Philly cheese things, except the best Philly cheese thing I've ever had

actually is here in Chicago. Don't tell anybody and do not tell my family. It's done. I love Philly.

I love. Okay. So Minnesota is my favorite stadium in the entire league. I think the game

presentation and the atmosphere and even as a player like getting to play there as a Minnesota

by King is incredible. Just like the skull chant and the fake snow that comes down and like that

organization just as a whole like the way that they like treat their staff and everything like that

is really, really good. Their facilities are really amazing. Like all of that is great. I think

Minneapolis has a really sneaky food scene. Also, if we're going to like stay on that thing of food,

they have some really, really good restaurants as someone who has a human being. You eat pretty much

every day. So it is right. Right. I also don't care about the colds. I don't care about the cold.

I am someone that grew up in Chicago and I would much prefer having seasons one of those seasons

being where it gets below zero and it shows and all that. But then you get the play in the dome

which stinks. But the stadium is really, really cool. And then on top of that, I think Baltimore is

another one that I really love because again, it looks like their stadium looks like the jaw was

robot mover. And if it's also right, it's right in Baltimore, which I think is

a very, very good city. You can walk up. You can walk up. It's beautiful. It's beautiful.

It's beautiful. It's like Camden Yars is an incredible venue too that I've been to. I've spent

a sneakie amount of time in Baltimore where like again, great food scene right by the water,

more than even the inner harbor is like that fells point area, which I love. And it's just like

colonial America and cobblestone streets and like really good dive bars. And like people are

just like out in the alleys. And I just I love it. It's very, and then like, well go to Pittsburgh if

you want that vibe. It's like, it's like Baltimore, but you're not like I'm infinitely better.

I want crabs. Okay. I want crabs. The little, the little creatures to eat. Okay. I want

clip that. No, no. Too late. Clip it off. That's going in the club this week.

I can't also get out of this by saying like I would stay right where I am, which is Chicago. I

know why because I adore Chicago. I love this city with my whole damn heart. And I always have

I've been called away and moved all over the country because of jobs because of work.

But I've always tried to get back here. And we damn it. We've done it. All right. We bought a condo.

We live here. My fiance works here. His studio is here. Like I am trying like hell to stay here

for like the rest of my life. You're not going to get to carry in the end is where you're headed.

Well, I know that apparently either way, I this this city is incredible. And I love it so,

so much. So for me, human standpoint, I'm I'm never I'm never happier than when I'm in Chicago.

I wouldn't be more different in this answer. Um, you know, like, where are you going to go?

All warm weather. I live in Canada. It's cold. I'm tired of the snow. Do you know what? Do you

know what a lot of Canadians do in the winter time? They become what's called snowbirds?

And you know where they go live? Southern Florida. And that's where I would be going. My

amy. First of all, if we're doing the stadium thing, that's the worst stadium I've ever been to.

I had to wait in that. What is it? A sonic parking lot for like two hours to wait for an Uber.

Have you been since the upgrades though? Because the upgrades are beautiful. It's a world

class facility now. It used to be. That doesn't help him waiting. I went three years ago.

Is the last time that I was there for the Lamar Homecoming on Thursday night football,

sell out crowd parking lot, horrible to get to, horrible to get out of. Like again, I don't want to

be in gridlock traffic because I live in Toronto. We've got some of the worst commutes on planet earth.

So I'm kind of going against that with the whole idea of playing at that stadium.

But you know what my biggest takeaway was when I was in Miami the whole time? It would be really

nice to have money here because I went as a middle class cab. And I had a good time and I was like,

God, look at that yacht. Look at that yacht. Look at that one. That's nice.

I would like to go to one of those someday. So if I was an NFL player, I would like to go

somewhere where the weather is beautiful. There's like an incredible nightlife. I could have fun.

I could have an amazing car. But also there's not like a crazy pressure to win there.

Like these guys are talking about Quinn Ewers. I can go out there and just have some decent stats

on we love forever. Like that's takes the pressure off. There's no, there's no state income tax,

which matters. Exactly. I'm not taxed and as a Canadian, I'm taxed out the ass. So I would like

that part of it as well. But like that piece I think is really attractive if you were a player.

Like when you said Philadelphia, I'm like, dead last.

Jill and her two are super bowl there. And the next year they're like, he sucks. We hate him.

We hope he leaves and say that's the caveat with Philly is the fans. The fans are so insane.

And they're also well informed too. Yeah, in the media, in the media, like it's hard to argue with.

I want to go somewhere where I can be like Lamello ball where I drive around town. I create

havoc and accidents in the whole city. He's like, that's our guy. He's got no pressure.

He's here. I want to be a menace. And if I was a menace, I would want to be in South Florida.

I'd want to play for the Miami Dolphins. I'd want no pressure. I'd hang out on my yacht.

It's been my millions of dollars. I'd be at 11. I'd be doing it all. I'd have the best of times.

Oh, man. All right. Listen, like I predicted, we got to a small fraction of the stuff I wanted

to cover with the two of you. Great stuff. I think I made a mistake. It should next time,

it'll be Jess Carmen Vitale or Jess JD bunkers or hopefully both of them sooner rather than

individually. But yeah, it's a fun roundtable. Just the same. Carmen Vitale Fox Sports Radio

track her down with my guy Martin Weiss and beyond. Great stuff. Always from her JD

bunkers sports net 590. The fan as well as the JD bunkers podcast. Make sure you're checking out

their great work. Thanks to the two of you. There they go. And here we go to real quick.

Please do subscribe if you haven't already to the audio podcast wherever you find your podcasts

as well as to the YouTube page football America doing real well. Our last episode all about the

Tarantino character draft with with Zaz and a mean. Please check that out and all the rest of it.

Until next week, thanks so much, my fellow football Americans. It's been a thin slice of heaven.