00:00I can't wait to see, like, I'm hoping that some of those easier teams
00:06are early in the schedule because Curtis brings up a good point, right?
00:10What if you start off 1-3 or 1-4?
00:13You're going to instantly be, people are going to be like,
00:16oh, he wasn't focused.
00:17His mind isn't able to be in it, and he's, yeah.
00:21Right.
00:22So when you look at the schedule, if he has some of those easier games early,
00:26and if, let's say, you could start off, you know, 3-1,
00:29and then maybe you hit a little bit of a bump in the road, you know,
00:33middle of the season, I think people won't be as ready to be like,
00:39oh, his focus wasn't where it needed to be.
00:42The first four games of the season are going to be super critical for Mike Vrabel,
00:46especially this season.
00:47There is a mathematical chance, Shime.
00:50You're the professor, so you would know better than I that they begin the season
00:56against the Super Bowl-winning Seattle Seahawks.
00:59That's correct.
01:00It's narrowed down to technically four teams that could play in Seattle in week one.
01:04That would be the Patriots, Chargers, Bears, or Cardinals.
01:08I would say with almost certainty, there's no way they put the Cardinals
01:11against the Seahawks on the season opener.
01:14So to me, it's really down to three.
01:16I like the Bears.
01:17It's also rare that the two Super Bowl opponents play each other to open the season.
01:22That's true.
01:23Right.
01:23So I think the Bears would be a good matchup.
01:25Right?
01:26Bears would be a great game.
01:27You said the Bears, Patriots.
01:29Chargers.
01:30Chargers.
01:30It would be awesome, though.
01:32It's a huge advantage if the Patriots open their season on Wednesday.
01:36That's another buy.
01:37Massive.
01:37Yeah, it's a half a buy.
01:38I would say from the NFL's perspective of trying to sell the first game of the season,
01:43maybe at that point it feels like everybody's chomping at the bit for football again.
01:47But did anybody look at the Super Bowl game and go, ooh, I want to see that again.
01:52First game of the season.
01:54It was so good.
01:55I mean, Will Campbell's going to be healthy.
01:57Come on.
01:57That game sucks.
01:58Redemption for the Patriots.
02:00That game was horrible.
02:01I don't want to see that again to open the season.
02:03Right.
02:03But also, you get that trip out of the way without having it being off another week.
02:08So instead of, you know, you're playing Sunday at 7, you know, you're done 7.30 on Sunday night.
02:13And then the next week, you got to fly to Seattle for your next game as opposed to starting your
02:17season there would be a big advantage, I think.
02:19You want to host Vegas, the Raiders, a little redemption from last year and maybe get you an easy victory.
02:26But that's why I think this schedule and the way it lays out, you know, there are going to be
02:31a lot of people that are going to be looking at it.
02:33Because, like you said, there's going to be a lot of eyes on Mike Vrabel this season.
02:37And to Curtis's point, if they're undisciplined early, if there's a lot of, like, dumb penalties, false starts, you know,
02:45like, oh, is that because now players are not buying into the culture there?
02:51Is that because players are not listening to Mike Vrabel?
02:55So you better hope you, like, you don't want to open up against Seattle.
03:01Seattle, you kind of look at their schedule and let's say you got to go on the road to Chicago.
03:07Let's say maybe you got to host a team like Green Bay where you could start off 1-3, maybe
03:120-2.
03:14I don't know, though, Wiggs.
03:15If you play the Seahawks, nobody's expecting you to win Week 1.
03:18Whereas if you lose to an inferior team, you have more risk of being viewed as having this big step
03:24back.
03:24Yeah, like if you lose to the Raiders or the Jaguars or the Dolphins or something in Week 1, people
03:28are going to be like, all right, what are we doing here?
03:30I understand that point that you're trying to make.
03:32But there's a better chance that if you're playing against Vegas or you're playing against the Jets, you're going to
03:39be favored in that game.
03:41So you could start out kind of like, you know, maybe getting the whole Rossini stuff out of people's minds.
03:49You start out 2-0.
03:50Like you said, Greg, people are, hey.
03:53Winning cures everything.
03:54All right.
03:55So if you start out 2-0, it's great.
03:58But if you start out 0-2 and you might be playing against good teams, I understand that.
04:03But people are still going to be like, oh, he wasn't focused.
04:06What is going on with, I mean, there can be, there's probably a thousand answers to this.
04:11And most of them, some of them involve odd drugs that people take in foreign countries.
04:17But what is going on with Aaron Rodgers?
04:19Because he was supposed to be at the facility on Friday and then he didn't show up down there.
04:27Like what is?
04:28Yeah, he was supposed to be at the facility, but he didn't show up.
04:31So there's been no contract negotiations.
04:33And yet everybody still expects him to possibly be the quarterback of the.
04:38It's the money.
04:39Why would you show up?
04:41He doesn't have a.
04:41I'll get on the same page as your receivers.
04:43But he's not on the contract, Sean.
04:47No, I know.
04:47But like, why would you show up to sign a contract?
04:49But like, he's not even having contract negotiations.
04:52Well, maybe it's the, maybe there's no contract negotiations because of where they are money.
04:58Like, you got to understand.
04:59Is it all because he doesn't want to participate in OTA?
05:02No, no, he's a free agent.
05:03I know.
05:03I mean, we are well aware of that.
05:06So you can't show up.
05:08Do you think that he would like to, if that's where he wants to play, he would be mutually agreeable
05:15to the football team, knowing who their quarterback is going to be going into the season?
05:19I mean, Tom Brady broke COVID laws to practice with Mike Evans.
05:23Yeah, but who has leverage here?
05:25But like, you don't even need to be at, you don't even need to be a practice weekend.
05:28It's not what we're saying.
05:28We just like, I don't know, have contract negotiations with the Steelers.
05:32But you get what you deserve in having that a-hole around your team.
05:35That's kind of why I want them week one.
05:37If you're, if you're-
05:39Oh, you do?
05:40Give me the Steelers at home.
05:41Put them in, put them in their place right off the rip.
05:44Courtney's going to have a bumpy return.
05:45If you're Aaron Rodgers, you have the leverage.
05:49Like, if they need a quarterback, you're a free agent.
05:53You were there last year.
05:54You had some, a little bit of success.
05:57Why should he, here's my number.
06:00You either meet it or you don't.
06:02Like, what is him showing like, ooh, you know,
06:06I want to be here.
06:08Why?
06:08But it's not even a money thing.
06:09He's not even having contract negotiations with the team.
06:12Can you do more Aaron Rodgers impersonation?
06:14I want to be here.
06:15I'm not, I'm not, I'm still a free agent, but guess what?
06:18I'm going to come as a volunteer because, no.
06:21Aaron Rodgers is like, mm-mm.
06:23You don't think his agent, or there hasn't been some whispers of, like,
06:26here's what Aaron wants.
06:28Schefter has said there's been no contract negotiations.
06:31I'm asking you, do you believe his agent hasn't said anything to Pittsburgh
06:37about what he might be looking for financially?
06:41Obviously, somebody said something to, something to the degree of, yeah,
06:45he wants to play there.
06:46I don't know if any money has been talked about because no contract
06:49negotiations have been talked about.
06:51I didn't, I'm asking, I'll ask the room because Schein doesn't really want
06:54to answer.
06:55Nope, I'm answering your question.
06:57Do you believe, do you believe there has been some whisper about what he's
07:02looking for financially to the Pittsburgh Steelers?
07:05Yeah, they just had him on the team last year.
07:07They know what he wants.
07:08They know what money he wants.
07:10Okay.
07:10I don't think that was a question.
07:12So I think what Wiggy is saying, then the ball's in their court.
07:16And my thing is, is the ball's in Aaron Rodgers' court because he's not
07:19doing anything.
07:20The team is open and ready and willing to have conversations and he's not
07:24showing up, not talking to them.
07:26How is the ball in his court?
07:28If they, if they want Aaron Rodgers, you know what they're going to tell
07:31Toto's agent?
07:32Here's what we're willing to pay him.
07:33We'll give him.
07:34You don't think they've told him what they're willing to pay him?
07:37Of course they have.
07:39And they were expecting him to be there on Friday and he's being a dink.
07:43Well, he's probably saying what you're offering me.
07:45I'm not showing up for that.
07:47No, it's because he doesn't want to go to OTAs.
07:49Just like last season when he didn't go to OTAs and he didn't sign with the
07:52team until June.
07:53So, oh, so now, so, so you, so you don't believe Adam Schefter that there has
07:59been negotiations and the team put an offer on the table for him.
08:02I believe the Steelers had the same, have the same offer on the table that
08:06they gave him last year.
08:07And they're like, Hey, we'd love to have you back.
08:08Here's the price tag.
08:09I just tanked this whole year so I can get out of this quarterback purgatory.
08:16That's the smart one to do.
08:16Because if you're at the spot where you're like, Oh, we got to figure out
08:19where Rogers is.
08:20He's not showing up on Friday.
08:22Like your, your franchise is dead.
08:25Go get a real quarterback.
08:27This next draft is supposed to be good.
08:29Yeah.
08:29And if you're Rogers, so basically you want me back at one year, 15 million.
08:34Get out of here.
08:35You mean get out of here.
08:37That's what he made last year.
08:38Right.
08:38But that's last year, Sean.
08:40What did he do to earn more money?
08:42What are we doing?
08:42Maybe he and his wife are expecting a child.
08:45What do you mean?
08:45What are we doing?
08:462% cost of living increase.
08:48If anything, he's getting less now.
08:50What are we talking about?
08:51Have you seen how much eggs are?
08:52Oh, gas.
08:53Oh yeah.
08:53I bet Rogers is really hurting for eggs.
08:56So, so if, if you were, if you were Aaron Rogers and you need, and you knew the team
09:00wanted you and you knew you had leverage, you would just take what they gave you last
09:06year if he wants to play.
09:08Yeah.
09:08No other team wants nobody else.
09:10There's no other place for him.
09:11Maybe he doesn't care about playing.
09:12Oh, maybe he could drive.
09:14He could back Drake may up.
09:15You go.
09:16Cause clearly if he, if he, if he wanted to play Greg and he was cool with that number,
09:22he probably takes it, but he's probably sitting there like, I don't need to play, but I'm
09:27not playing at the same amount.
09:29I played last year.
09:30Can you imagine Aaron Rogers and Matt Collins in the same locker room?
09:35All right.
09:37NFL schedule release Thursday night at eight.
