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The T.J. Watt drama is over. If
there ever was any in the first
place, Steelers locking up their star pass rusher on a massive
deal. Now it’s back to, you
know, all the other drama ahead this season in Pittsburgh. We
will break it all down tonight.
Training camps officially now underway with Justin Herbert and
the Chargers hitting the field
at the bolt. Hear what Coach Jim Harbaugh had to say about
pressure on everybody to step up
around their QB. You’ll also hear from new Colts safety Cam
Bynum. He of the bottomless
celebration bag. Can this Indy team compete in the AFC South?
And what is his take on the
looming quarterback battle? We will ask Bynum all that and so
much more. Welcome inside with
the Insiders alongside Judy Battista and Mike Garafolo. I am
Tom Pelissero. Seven weeks from
tonight, 49 days away, the NFL season will officially be
kicking off in Philadelphia.
Across the state, that other team has been grabbing headlines
the entire off season, though
the business portion of things for the Steelers now finally
appears to be drawing to a close
after an off season long standoff. A minicamp holdout, TJ
Watt, as expected. Not going
anywhere besides green on a three year, $123 million
contract extension that locks up
Watt through 2028 and makes him not only now the highest paid
non-quarterback in NFL history
at $41 million per year, it is also the second largest contract
ever in Steelers history, behind
DK Metcalf. The player acquired from Seattle in a trade that
really started everything off
mike in terms of the Steelers overhauling so much of their
roster, but in this case,
sticking with one of the guys who has been a stalwart for this
franchise, the pictures of TJ
Watt’s offseason. We could do the how it started with that one
that had people freaking out,
thinking he was saying goodbye to Pittsburgh, to the one day
that I think was one of these,
you know, a little bit bigger biceps than I’m showing right
now. Those are the pictures.
Those are the bookends of this whole thing. And in between was
a veteran minicamp where Aaron
Rodgers made his first appearance there at the
facility. And T.J. Watt, not
being there, was kind of pushed to a secondary or really third
story there. And I remember
talking to people in the building then, and I mentioned
this on the insiders. They said,
look, he probably just doesn’t want to come to minicamp. Like
he’ll be here for training camp
because we feel really good about the offer that we put out
there right now. It is right
there at the top of the market. At the time, Miles Garrett had
been done at $40 million per
year, so they understood what they were going to have to do
here. And nobody was panicking
because the thought was, once we get closer to training camp,
that’ll be the pressure point
that eventually gets this thing done, yada yada, yada. Here we
are. TJ Watt, highest paid.
Ready to join the Pittsburgh Steelers in Latrobe as they try
to get all these pieces
together, put them together for a potential push. Well you guys
are right. Obviously he was
never going anywhere. But this is just the capstone blockbuster
deal in what has been just a
series of blockbusters this offseason, sort of an
uncharacteristic offseason for
the Pittsburgh Steelers, headline after headline.
Obviously Aaron Rodgers, DK
Metcalf, Jalen Ramsey, Jonnu Smith. And now you get TJ Watt
on the highest non quarterback
contract in the league. All of these pieces are great. It’s a
very veteran all in kind of move
kind of off season. Now we’ve got to see if it works. We have
seen teams do this before where
they sort of push all the chips into the middle of the table.
Sometimes it works, sometimes it
does not. But it feels like the Pittsburgh Steelers have been
stuck in neutral. They’ve
they’ve been going to the playoffs but stuck in neutral.
They just can’t get past that.
They have spent the entire offseason making it clear they
are making a Super Bowl push
now. Aaron Rodgers probably in the last season of his career.
They are going all in on 2025 in
Pittsburgh. T.J. Watt turns 31 in October. A data point that I
would imagine is relevant to one
Trey Hendrickson, who still does not have his new contract from
the Bengals. And to the extent
that anyone might be saying, but you’re on the wrong side of age
30 here, the Steelers are giving
a soon to be 31 year old the biggest quarterback
non-quarterback contract in NFL
history. Micah Parsons, Aidan Hutchinson two other edge
rushers who are up for deals
have to be somewhere pretty pleased today once again, as
that non quarterback number
continues to go up. Also pleased with the outcome here, J.J.
Watt, who had some things to say
on social media about his brother’s new deal earned,
deserved. Incredible. Anything
else from the thesaurus? No, we ran out of space in that tweet.
TJ Watt sticking around in
Pittsburgh, a fun and potentially wild season ahead
for the Steelers. The Chargers,
though, the first team to get back on the field. They’re
playing in the Hall of Fame
game, hence their ability to host slow motion highlights like
this. How about a little Justin
Herbert to I believe that’s Jalen Reagor for a big touchdown
in training camp. Earlier on
today Jim Harbaugh spoke to the media. Had a lot to say as you
would imagine. Oh so excited.
It’s emotional. Just really fired up. And I just keep keep
telling myself you know mind
over nervous system. I’m my mind is smarter than my nervous
system. It’s emotional in a
great way. It always is. The first day. Boom, here we go.
It’s a homecoming, you know? I
mean, all the all the best words in the English language. I mean,
I associate to the first day of
football, you know, it’s being reborn. Some would think it’s
January 1st. You know, those are
espoused to Catholicism. Christianity would think it’s
the birth of Christ. Us in
football, it’s the first day of training camp. Homecoming. Get
this big locomotive, this big
blue machine, you know, moving. I think Justin’s biggest
weakness is those around it,
those around him that he’s counting on, on offense as
coaches and playmakers and
players on offense. We got to we got to get to we got to get to
Justin Herbert’s level. If
you’re playing ha bingo at home, you might have five across. You
should double check your board
right here. The most notable thing in all the talk, he also
spoke about giving the Pope Air
Jordans, about meeting every president from Gerald Ford to
Donald Trump. The most notable
thing here is what he said there at the end when he was asked
about Justin, Herbert said his
biggest weakness is everybody else around him. I’m only
slightly paraphrasing there. To
me, that not only is taking a little pressure off the guy who
everyone’s going to direct it
at, he hasn’t won a playoff game and saying, hey, everybody else,
it’s on you to get to this guy’s
level. Yes, I mean, he is basically telling the rest of
the offense, you better step up
your game because you’ve got to match Justin Herbert. We know
about the man crush that he has
on Justin Herbert. I mean, but to be fair, there’s some
accuracy here, right? Justin
Herbert is a star and he needs everybody around him to elevate
their games. They spent a lot of
the offseason trying to put more of an offense around him. We
know Harbaugh would like to run
the ball. That’s why they got Najee Harris. That’s why they
drafted Omarion Hampton. So they
are trying to do more. They drafted Trey Harris as a wide
receiver in the second round to
by the way signed his contract today. We got a bunch of second
rounders signing finally to join
Ladd McConkey as a wide receiver. So they’re trying to
put more things around him to
take some of the pressure off. He would like to have a more
balanced offense. He’d like to
have a more physical running attack. They also signed Mekhi
Becton in the off season for the
offensive line. But the point here is everything is being
built around Justin Herbert, and
Harbaugh was basically putting everybody on notice and saying,
okay, the pieces are in place
now. Everybody’s got to play up. Now to this guy’s standard. He
is the one who is carrying us.
He needs help to push us forward. Yeah, I did a little
digging on this today. It turns
out that Jim Harbaugh did play in the NFL, and he did play at
the quarterback position. I
don’t know if you guys knew that right there. So I understand
that where he’s coming from is
calculated because he’s always been a champion of his
quarterbacks and he’s always
elevated these guys. And he understands the position more
than anybody. And this is a team
who last year we knew that they were going to be successful
because that’s what Harbaugh
does. He gets programs going and he gets them moving in the right
direction quickly. It’s like,
okay, last year was a playoff year. That’s great. We have high
aspirations because we’ve got a
quarterback that has the capability to get this team to
greater levels. So now’s the
time. There’s no wasting. It is now about pushing it toward
being a Super Bowl caliber type
team. And he believes that there’s enough talent there. If
he said that today, it’s not
like he didn’t believe it. He understands what’s there. It’s
about getting the rest of that
locker room to believe it. I agree, I think it was half that.
I think it’s half what Tom said,
which is taking the pressure off of Justin Herbert, because all
of a sudden people say, oh,
maybe he’s not what we thought he was. No, Jim Harbaugh
believes that he is exactly what
everybody thought he was and what he can be and what this
team can be. Some other
questions that the Chargers have to sort out here. Some of those
answers will become clear in the
coming weeks. Najee Harris officially placed on the
non-football injury list today,
suffered the eye injury in a 4th of July fireworks explosion. Joe
Hortiz, the GM and speaking to
reporters yesterday, was noncommittal about the exact
timeline. He can be activated
from that list at any time, but it does sound like it’s going to
be at least a couple of weeks
until we even start to see Najee Harris begin to integrate if he
can then back onto the field.
They also have an unexpected hole now at the wide receiver
position. Mike Williams, first
round pick by the Chargers years ago, who split last season
between the Jets and the
Steelers, went back to the Chargers, informed the team that
he plans to retire 30 years old,
had 32 career touchdown passes, made $80 million in the NFL set
for life. His body has been
through a lot. He walks away. The question now becomes, can
they roll with Quentin Johnston
and the other receivers? Ladd McConkey? They have in house or
maybe go after another old
friend, Keenan Allen, still a free agent at this time?
Speaking of old friends, or at
least old players, von Miller has a new home, as we reported
last night, has agreed to terms
with the Washington Commanders, one of the decorated pass
rushers in NFL history, the MVP
of Super Bowl 50. He won a title with the Broncos. He won a title
with the Rams. Could he go and
get one after he did not do so with Buffalo now in Washington,
a fascinating addition for a
commanders team that had no regrets about going after some
old players a year ago. They’ve
doubled down on it. Bobby Wagner come on back Zach Ertz, come on
back. Even before the Von Miller
addition they were the oldest team in the NFL. Now that is by
a significant margin. In a
league where age 30 is like the boogeyman sitting out there, the
average age of the commanders
roster is very close. Mike to 28 years old, though when you think
about how they’re set up, the
quarterback, they have the contract they have him on, it
makes some sense. Hey, if we can
load up, run this thing back and get better, let’s take our shot.
Yeah, that’s the big thing. And
Adam Peters, formerly of the 40 Niners, has seen what you can do
when you have a team that has a
rookie quarterback or a young quarterback, I should say that
is performing. And you don’t
have that huge financial commitment, because once you do,
that changes things. So the
commanders are in that window right now and it’s not going to
last very long. It’s going to be
this season and next season, because after next year, then
it’s going to be time to pay
Jayden Daniels enormous money, provided he continues to perform
the way that he did last year.
So you load up on the veterans, that’s fine. You’re one of the
older rosters right now, but a
lot of these pieces are going to be gone in the next couple of
years. You got to draft well.
That’s what you got to do when you get that quarterback on that
deal. And when you’re also going
for this as well, because you got to backfill it there as
well. So Von Miller, a guy who
could replace and I hate to say this because he’s much more
accomplished, but last year
Dante Fowler was the guy, Judy, who performed very well in that
pass rushing veteran role, had
ten and a half sacks, I believe was the number. Now, Von Miller
is a guy that can provide that.
And maybe a couple of times along the season you need a
closer. I think Brandon Graham
wound up being that guy for the Eagles at least early in the
year. This guy can be a closer
for you, come up with a big sack when you need it. Yeah. This is
not about Von Miller playing 85%
of the snaps all season. This is about Von Miller chasing Jalen
Hurts in the postseason. It is
not about chasing Jalen Hurts in Week two either. Von Miller is
going to be all about load
management. It is going to be about getting him to the late
part of the season and into the
postseason. For the Buffalo Bills. He was productive when he
was on the field. Now, last
season, he only played 33% of the defensive snaps, but he did
have six sacks, 16 pressures,
eight quarterback hurries, so he can still disrupt a
quarterback’s play and his
decision making when he is on the field. You just have to
measure out the times that he is
going to be on the field. And again, this is not about chasing
quarterbacks in the first
quarter of the season. This is about making a playoff push.
This team unexpectedly went to
the NFC Championship game last season. They want to take the
final step. As you pointed out
they’ve got Jayden Daniels on the cheap contract. So they are
loading up. It’s going to be all
about load management for Von Miller though. Certainly the
commanders have found ways to
generate pass rush. They did that last season. But if you’re
thinking in terms of name power,
I would just challenge everybody watching at home right now. Try
to think of who the other edge
rushers are on that roster. If you said Dorance Armstrong,
you’re correct. And that was
impressive. Von Miller, certainly the biggest name by
far now for Washington in terms
of that pass rush attack. We also got news today on a couple
of legal situations around the
NFL. First one involving Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice, who
entered into a plea agreement in
which he pled guilty to two felonies collision involving
serious bodily injury and racing
on a highway causing bodily injury. He was sentenced to 30
days jail time in five years of
deferred probation. As a part of that deal, the NFL said on rice.
We’ve been closely monitoring
all developments in the matter, which remains under review. Of
course, the NFL can take action
against players even if they don’t get convicted of any
crime. In this case, you would
certainly anticipate a suspension now that the legal
case has concluded that
suspension is most likely going to take effect here at the start
of the 2025 season. Yes, Tom,
similar situation for Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison,
who pled guilty to a lesser
charge to resolve a July 2024 DUI arrest. It is a wet,
reckless charge that he was. He
pled down to the expectation via his agent, and his attorney is
that he will have his probation
reduced to six months as he completes some online courses.
Has also partaken in some mad
events. Previously, on his own volition. He did consider a
trial from what I’m told, but
didn’t want that distraction hanging over training camp and
the season. This incident did
happen as he was headed toward an overnight flight, I’m told at
LAX as he was headed toward a
youth football camp. There were no injuries or damage to any
property in the incident, but he
was arrested at the time. Now pleads to that lesser offense.
We shall see what the NFL
decides on Addison. Tom. The Vikings may well have to replace
Jordan Addison, at least for the
start of the 2025 season. They got to replace this guy for the
entire season in years to come.
Cam Bynum leaving for a monster deal in free agency. What’s he
got cooked up in terms of the
celebrations for next season, and what does he see in this
Colts team? We’ll ask him Cam
Bynum with us next on the insiders. The insiders is
brought to you by Pronamel.
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liquid gels for faster, stronger my love to my children as a
father, I can see it.
I can change it up. Extra man comes from Minnesota Jones
launches end zone. Closest man
as a Viking. It is picked off by Bynum. Camryn Bynum trying to
seal another game and he comes
up with another takeaway. A lot of people might know Cam Bynum
as the celebration guy, but you
don’t get a four year, $60 million contract because you can
dance. Cam Bynum got that from
the Colts back in March because he is a straight up baller, and
he’s with us right now on the
insiders with me, Tom Pelissero and Judy Battista. Cam, great to
see you again, man. How’s life?
How’s everything? Tell me everything. Great to see you.
Thank you for having me. But
life is good. Been in the Philippines the last few months
just training, doing my camps,
doing the stuff with my foundation. But life is good.
New baby. We’ll probably get to
that later on. But just really the whole transition, a lot of
new things in my life signing
with the Colts, then becoming a first time dad. There’s so many
new things, but I’m excited for
the future. But these last few months have been good time to,
you know, get acclimated in
Indy, but also getting the training in getting to know the
new guys on my team. So it’s
been a great last few months and a great offseason for me so far.
Well, we are going to get to the
baby in a second, but first I want to get to the training you
were doing in the off season
because part of it, you’ve been training with Manny Pacquiao.
How did that come together? What
has that been like? So that’s one of my goats, probably one of
my favorite athletes of all
time, him and Kobe Bryant. But just being able to know him and
me being Filipino, we’ve we’ve
connected in the past. But this time him being in LA and
preparing for his fight in two
days against Mario Barrios, I reached out to them and was
like, hey, I’m in LA, I want to
come train with you guys and see, because we all know boxers
have the craziest, cardio,
craziest workouts. So I wanted to test myself and see if I can
hang with him. And even him
being 46, I was, you know, grinding, trying to get through
that workout. So just being able
to be surrounded by a legend like him and just see his work
ethic and see the focus that he
has, it was cool to just be surrounded by him, and that’s
one of my inspirations to just
what he did for the country of the Philippines and the whole
world. So that’s one of the guys
that I really look up to. I assume your boxing career is
going to be on hold, at least
for the next several years. Here, you’re playing football,
you’re on a new team, you got
all new teammates. You go through the spring. Just give me
the reason for optimism about
these 2025 Indianapolis Colts. I just think we have a solid team
overall. Just every position.
You can look and see that there’s an amazing players that
every spot, offense and defense.
And for me, I’m biased. Looking at the defense, I expect a lot
out of us with the new DC, with
Coach Lue being there and just bringing the defense that he’s
bringing with, you know, just
the aggressive play style and especially the guys up front. We
got, you know, pass rushers for
days. We got linebackers. Our secondary is looking really
good. So I just expect a lot out
of us. And especially just the hunger that I saw from every
single person during OTAs and
during the mandatory minicamp. I just see I just see a spark in
this team and for me being able
to come in and hopefully just be a leader and bring bring my game
to this team, I just expect a
lot out of us. So I know just overall we’re going to have a
great season. What what should
we expect the defense to look like? You mentioned new
defensive coordinator Lou
Anarumo is there. They brought in some guys, including you.
What should we think the Colts
defense is going to look like this season? I think just a unit
playing as one. I think we’re
going to play fast. And that’s really what I want to bring to
this team of just the confidence
that we go out there every single time and be able to make
this defense our own. Coach,
Lou, is super aggressive in the way that he plays and the way
that he coaches. It’s he’s
letting us really play to our strengths, and that’s one thing
that I see out of him. So I know
that we’re just going to be able to play as a whole, whole unit
and know that we’re out there
playing with each other. So I think we’re going to play as one
and just play fast and be one of
those teams. That’s just you turn the tape on them and you
can really just stand out and be
like, this team plays fast and they’re playing physical. I know
you’re focused on learning the
scheme and learning your teammates all those things, but
you’re also going up in the
spring against a couple of guys who are in a quarterback
competition. It’s on the short
list of those across the NFL this year. You were with Daniel
Jones a little bit last year in
Minnesota. You’ve gotten a taste of Anthony Richardson. Tell me
about those two guys and how as
a defense, you can challenge them to make sure that the right
guy rises to the top by the end
of the preseason? Yeah, I think this is a great scenario for any
quarterback to be in. Obviously,
it’s an uncomfortable spot because you’re competing for a
spot, but as a competitor,
that’s what you want. You don’t want things given to you. So
both quarterbacks are in there
grinding and trying to earn their their way to be the
starter this year. And both are
looking extremely well and playing well in the spring. So
I’m excited to see how it plays
out. But no matter what, as a player on this defense being
able to go against them, they’re
giving us challenges. And I think no matter who who the team
picks and who the leadership
picks is quarterback. As the starter this season, I’m
confident in both. I know both
can get the job done, especially with the team around the O line
that we have the run game that
we can establish and solid receivers across the board. I
know whoever ends up winning it
will get the job done and do really well, but I just think
it’s a good scenario for anybody
to really have that pressure to push them forward, and it’s
going to be a fun training camp,
knowing that you’re going against quarterbacks that are
fighting for something, so
they’re obviously going to be playing as hard as they possibly
can. All right. When you get an
interception, maybe not in practice. I’m sure the offense
hopes you don’t get it in
practice, but in a game you’re known for your celebrations. We
just showed one right before you
came on. What do you have in mind? What are you going to show
the fans in Indianapolis? First
you got to take the ball away. Show them that I’m here to take
the ball and not just dance. The
dancing is comes second, second after the turnover. But really,
I just want to bring the
excitement to that stadium. It’s going to be my first time ever
playing in Lucas Oil Stadium,
having been inside that stadium yet because it was Covid and the
time I was able to go to the
combine. So I’m just excited to bring that energy and just bring
the excitement. So I got a lot
of dances planned because I know we’re going to get a lot of
turnovers. So a lot of throwback
dances, just anything planned, we’re going to we’re going to
bring it to the table because we
know we want to turn up that whole stadium. And the whole
city of Indianapolis needs to be
jumping when that defense is on the field. Cam, A couple of
years ago, you had a big play in
a national TV game in Minnesota. I interviewed you after the
game, and you used that platform
to plead for help getting your fiancee at the time visa help to
get her into this country that
worked out. You now have a family, you’re married and you
just welcomed a new baby. Just
tell me about the perspective that that gives you what it’s
like being a new dad. Yeah, it’s
just such a blessing looking at our journey, just how far we
came from us getting married.
And like you said, going back to that niner game where, you know,
use my platform to be able to
get, you know, help get my wife here. And just the blessing that
God has given us to, you know,
start our family now and have a new baby. And even the
challenges in that with the
birth story and just so much goodness came out of just
everything that we thought was a
struggle at the time. And looking back at it, I wouldn’t
have wanted it any other way.
With the struggle that we had getting her here and now with
the baby, you know, just the
challenges that comes with that. But no matter what, everything
is just happiness and just so
grateful. And being a dad is the best thing, especially having a
daughter. Everybody’s always
told me about having a daughter, how to soften you up and just
make you a whole different
person. But I see it now. I feel like a whole, whole different
man having a daughter and just
the, you know, that soft spot that I’m already a teddy bear
myself. I’m super easygoing. But
having a daughter made me even even more just just a lover.
Cam, thanks a lot for being
here, man. Always great talking with you. Best of luck in
Indianapolis. We’ll see you
picking the ball off and dancing real soon here. Yep. Sounds
good. Appreciate you guys having
me. So TJ Watt got his deal today. What about Micah Parsons?
Jane Slater has answers from on
the ground in Dallas. Coming up right after this on The Insider. it? Get NFL RedZone now. There
is cam Ward. I gotta make sure I
get my cams right because we got Cam Wolf coming up in just a
second here. Cam Ward the number
one overall pick in the draft. That’s him in the spring with
the Titans the summer about to
begin. Rookies and veterans reporting to training camp in
Nashville. That is coming up in
just a couple of days. Roger McCreary already mentally there
in year for the Titans
cornerback. The second round pick back in 2022. He says this
is year four right there. And
you see that’s his game face that he’s got on right there. He
better have that game face ready
to go because he’s on the insiders with me and Cameron
Wolfe as I just mentioned.
Roger, thank you for joining us here on the program. You said
year four. In the next post on
X, it was a video of you, I believe, backpedaling. And it
said this year is personal. What
does that mean for you? Yeah, it means a lot. This year is
personal. Everybody know me as a
quiet guy, I would say, and I feel like going to my year four,
I, I got to show them all me. I
just got to express who I’m truly am on and off the field.
And I feel like this the year is
contract year, and I’m gonna just get everybody all I got and
just show people what I’m truly
made of on that field. That’s what it meant. That’s what it
meant right there. I can feel
that hunger as you talk about it. Can you give us an idea of
what you have on your your
mantle board, your goal board? What would a great year for
Roger McCreary and the Titans
look like? Yeah, usually when people ask me that, I’ll be
like, it just get better every
year. That’s always been my goal is just to get better every
year. But now it’s me trying to
be the top. I want to be the top corner. I want to be the top
person in the game. The DB that
people talk about, because I feel like a lot of people look
over me and just don’t look at
the plays I make on the field. So it’s just me time to show
people that I’m out there. I’m
on the field like I matter and I’m gonna show them that. And
going into this season with the
times, I feel like we’re going to show people who we really
made of and what we truly are,
because I feel like a lot of people don’t respect us. They
don’t talk about the times a
lot. And I feel like this year, especially with cam Ward, that
guy, that quarterback, I feel
like we’re going to do good with him. Yeah. And look, we’re
seeing what you do. I mean,
there’s a couple of pass breakups in this package of
highlights that we’re showing.
But there’s a lot of that. There’s a lot of tackles behind
the line of scrimmage tied for
the most amongst defensive backs. What is it about you as a
quarterback that you say you
know what, I’m not just going to be out there in pass coverage
because I know that, you know, a
lot of people say there are a lot of corners that don’t want
to stick their nose in there.
This is a guy who does. Yeah. Most definitely. I feel like,
you know, corner they always
think of just pass the flesh and just stick the receiver. But me
I feel I bring more to the game.
I can tackle them. I’m more of a leader now. I feel like I got to
step up more and be that vet. So
tackling, I’m be out there communicating, pass deflections,
everything, just be around the
ball. And that’s basically what I’m going to show everybody this
year is that I’m all around the
ball no matter what. All around the ball. I can’t help but
notice this time of year is paid
season. We just got sauce Gardner got a big bag. I know in
your position the slot
cornerback market, Kyler Gordon and Jordan Lewis got big money
to reset the market earlier this
offseason. What is your eyes do when you see that type of money
for folks as you get ready for
your contract year? Yeah, I mean, I don’t have it for guys
like that. I mean, dumb players
that you say are great players. I mean, I watched their game, I
see how they play and I feel
like I play up to that level too. And I just want to show
people that what type of player
I am, I deserve to have that I deserve to have that. So I want
to show people that I can be
just as that level as they. On to you talk about cam Ward, what
did you see from him in the
spring? Because you guys on that side of the ball may have as
good a view of what’s happening
as anybody, because you’re the ones trying to stop him. I know
it’s not full go, but what did
he do to impress you in the spring? To make you say what you
just said about him bringing
excitement? Yeah. I mean, I seen him play a little bit in Miami a
little bit. I didn’t know his
game. But finally when I seen him in person at practice, you
could just tell that the person
you see on TV, that’s exactly how he was in person. You know,
when I first got out there, I’m
like, let’s see. Let’s see what cam Ward is about. And that’s
exactly what he truly is,
exactly what he did in Miami and just the type of person he is,
you know, trash talking to the
person that true to himself, I would say he don’t want to be
like nobody else. It’s just true
to him, man. I’ll say one thing that stick out was the time when
he was talking smack to Jeffrey.
That was one thing that stood out because usually a
quarterback who talk trash,
Jeff, always get to their head, but him it intimidate him at
all. Next play he did an amazing
play, so I feel like a guy like that. I’m excited to play with
for sure. And I definitely want
to see more come in this camp. I love what you said about the
trash talk with your
quarterback, Jeffrey Simmons and Cam Ward. We don’t have cameras
on the practice field. Can you
give us a glimpse even through that trash talk, trash talk
moment of what his personality
was? Did you see a different side of him? Oh, yeah, most
definitely. It’s not like he
just flipped the switch. It’s like that every day. It’s like,
that’s just him. I can tell.
Like in the locker room, he talking about who who trying to
get whoop and ping pong. I’m
like this dude talk smash off the field to even when we get on
the field, even if like, say, if
you make a mistake, he’s still going to talk trash. But I got
you. I’m gonna come with another
one. Come right with another one, throw one. So it just shows
the type of person he is that he
don’t care about the mistakes he made. He just know he going to
come at you no matter what. And
that’s one thing I like because that confidence through the roof
and that’s what type of person
we need. Yeah. You got a little something for him. If you pick
him off in training camp. Talk.
Yeah I know yeah I’m trying to get him on I haven’t he haven’t
seen much of me in the camp
because the young guys out there and stuff. But yeah, most
definitely I’ll be out there. I
was trying to talk trash to him because that’s one thing I
really want to do is talk more
trash, getting people ahead. And I feel like he’s the guy, the
perfect guy to help me get at
that more. I would say I love it, man. That tells you ask like
what the goals are for the
season and you get some generic stuff. Even you said it
yourself, but then you just
checked it off a really specific I want to talk more trash this
year, I love it. Roger McCreary,
previously a quiet guy, wants his voice to be heard. Oh yeah,
most definitely. I feel like a
lot of people underestimate me with that because I’m so quiet.
So I feel like I just got to
bring it out. Like me off the field. I have fun, talk trash,
my friends. But when I get on
the field, I just do my work and be quiet. But now I just got to
show. Love it. Roger McCreary
coming to a trash talk spat near you. There’s a line in The
Godfather says it’s not
personal. It’s just business. For Roger McCreary, year four is
both. Good luck to you, pal.
Good luck getting that bag, I appreciate it. Thank you. You
just got to make him an offer
they can’t refuse. Roger. That’s what you got to do right there.
Luca Brasi is available now.
Actually, he’s not anymore. This guy’s available for the Cowboys.
Wants to get paid what he is
worth. Will he get it soon? Will he get it before the season?
We’ll talk about Micah Parsons
and the Cowboys coming up. Here we go. They’re going to throw it
into the end zone. Touchdown I hour. Yes. NFL plus keep the NFL
in reach. Listen, folks, here’s
the deal. It’s football season and the news is flying. Among
the items today TJ Watt becomes
the highest paid non quarterback in the NFL. Three years $123
million 108 million of that
guaranteed because he’s reliable he’s available. And he’s pretty
darned good. Good enough to get
above Myles Garrett as the highest paid pass rusher. And
also jamaar Chase there at the
wide receiver position. You get your money. Non-quarterbacks
good for you guys. And Micah
Parsons saying good for you because he’s up next. And he was
on The Undertaker’s podcast to
talk about whether the possibility of a deal with the
Cowboys is dead. Are we coming
along with the contract? Man, we gotta. Can you talk about it?
Because, look, I listen, you
gotta drink. We had to get a drink of water. Yeah, that’s not
a good sign. We obviously wanted
to get done early. We want that relief off our backs. But
obviously ownership is always
going to make it drag out. Make it make it more complicated than
it has to be. Lack of
communication, that standpoint. But you know, I just always say
God has me this far. He ain’t
done with me yet. So, you know, I just just keep working, keep
going. And then when they come,
I’m gonna be ready. But you know, I ain’t going to be no
drop off. We cannot have a Micah
Parsons contract conversation around here at the insiders
without roping in our buddy
Jason Slater. Gene joins us. Okay, Gene, we just saw a few
hours ago the market get reset
yet again with T.J. Watt. Where do things stand with Micah’s
negotiations? You know, if
you’ll remember, it was two springs ago. Jerry and I had a
spirited debate about why they
wait so long to get the contracts done when they
ultimately pay them. And Jerry’s
response is that they were waiting for the leaves to fall.
Well, another leaf fell today
with the TJ Watt deal. Here’s what I know. I reached out to
all sides that are involved in
this and I said, where are we at? Have there been more
discussions? Will Micah be at
camp? The responses I got were, quote, nothing going on, quote,
status quo. I think what makes
this one a little different than, say, KD last year or Dak
Prescott in the past is after
the combine. Micah Parsons was in Jerry Jones’s office. They
were talking about some of the
parameters that they were looking for. There wasn’t
anything specific, but Jerry had
his player in the office. Agents hate that. David Archuleta, his
agent, obviously got involved,
and it’s my understanding there really haven’t been that many
conversations. To Micah Parsons
credit. And you heard him on The Undertaker. He’s trying to get
the deal done. He’s trying to do
things in good faith. I don’t quite know what the holdup is. I
you know, I would suspect Jerry
has always said that part of this is entertainment. Judy, I
noticed something interesting.
August 19th is when his Netflix special comes out. The Gambler
and his Cowboys. Jerry likes to
gamble on these things. Might we tie these two things in for
maximum exposure? I went back
and last year we got CeeDee lamb done on August 26th. So I hope
that we don’t see that because I
do truly believe and you can ask people around the building.
CeeDee lamb did have a little
rust not practicing with his guys. And remind reminder you’re
getting a new defense. And so
it’s important to have Micah out there, at least for the energy
aspect and just the playbook. I
like the way your conspiracy theory is working though. Okay,
let’s stick in the NFC East.
There was actually more pass rusher news in the NFC East. Von
Miller landing with the
commanders. What do you think about that. You know I think Dan
Quinn is a powerful recruiter
when it comes to his team I mean the Cowboys have you know talked
to guys in the past. And Dan
Quinn manages to convince them and Adam Peters, their GM, to
come to Washington. When I
reached out to the Washington commanders, I said, what is it
about Von Miller 14 years into
his career? I mean, yes, this guy is a Super Bowl MVP. They do
have a four man front, but I was
told pass rush mindset and skilled. Another hard core
competitor to add to the group.
That is number one. They’ll likely use him in a lot of
passing downs. I know this is
tough for some cowboy fans though. Remember Von Miller is
from the area DeSoto. It’s part
of the DFW area. He went to Texas A&M. I know Cowboys fans
would have loved to have seen
him here, but remember they went and got Dante Fowler to come
back from the Washington
Commanders. They’ve got Sam Williams who got injured in camp
early on last year. You’ve got
Micah Parsons who we hope will see at camp. And then they did
go out and draft a rookie and
Marshawn Kneeland. So they feel like they’ve got some guys. But
I know Matt Eberflus would sure
love to see Micah there. I have a feeling, Jane, this is not the
last time you and I are going to
be discussing Micah Parsons in these next few weeks. Thank you
so much, Jane. And when we
return on the insiders, it is never too early to start
thinking about your fantasy
football team. We got our guy Marcas Grant. He’s going to let
you know about some big upcoming
training camp battles with huge fantasy implications. Coming up
next when we return on the
insiders. I forgot to wash my ups for the 2025 fantasy
football season are now open.
Join a league or start your own. It’s fun and free to play. Play
with your friends and family.
Our next guest has already registered for 741 leagues.
Download the NFL fantasy app or
go to NFL.com. Fantasy where yes, there’s a very high
percentage chance you’ll end up
in a league with Marcus Graham. Marcus, great to see you. Here
it is coming up on fantasy draft
season. So let’s talk about some of these training camp battles
to watch in real life football.
That could have big implications for fantasy football. You got a
top three. Let’s start out at
number three. All right. Number three we’ll go down to Dallas
when we look at the Cowboys
backfield. That running back situation. You know ever since
Ezekiel Elliott sort of left his
prime they’ve been trying to figure some things out there.
They move on from Rico Dowdle.
He goes somewhere else. Now they bring in Javonte Williams who
never really established himself
as a true feature back in Denver. Now is trying to figure
out a fresh start here in
Dallas. But they also go and spend a fifth round pick on
Jaydon Blue out of Texas. Miles
Sanders is there. He could sort of muddy the waters if he turns
into a pass catching option.
Ideally, we would like for one of these guys to sort of take
the lead, but the nightmare
scenario is that Brian Schottenheimer and that offense
sort of uses all three of those
guys, which we love. We love certainty, and there’s a lot of
uncertainty right now in that
Dallas backfield. Javonte Williams once ran all over the
Cowboys as a rookie. My
understanding after the knee injury and everything else he
dealt with, the Twitch looks
like it’s back. There’s some optimism about Javonte and
Dallas right who’s number two on
your list. Marcas I’m going to go down to Jacksonville where
it’s a similar situation with
the Jaguars running backs. You got Travis Etienne who right now
is coming off the board right
around running back 33. But last year we saw Tank Bigsby get a
whole lot of opportunity. The
problem with Bigsby was issues with ball security. So now much
like Dallas the Jaguars went out
and spent a day three pick on a running back getting Bashar
Tuten who really is an explosive
player. The knock on him though was ball security issues coming
out of college. In fact, his
first touch in OTAs this year, he put the ball on the ground.
So it’s a situation where the
Jaguars have three guys that they sort of like but don’t
really love. And the fear is,
again, all three of these guys could be in the mix this year.
Liam Cohen wanted to get that
run game going in Tampa. He succeeded in that. Let’s see if
he can do the same thing now for
Jacksonville. All right. Number one on the list of training camp
battles with fantasy
implications. What do you got Marcas I’m going with the Colts
quarterback situation here. And
these are two very different guys when it comes to fantasy
Anthony Richardson we like him
for his individual value because he’s got that rushing upside can
score when they get the ball
down near the goal line. But because he struggles as a passer
doesn’t really elevate the guys
around him. On the flip side, you got Daniel Jones. We saw
have that big year a couple of
seasons ago where he can sort of do some things to elevate the
guys around him, but his overall
ceiling may be not as high as Richardson when it comes to a
fantasy sort of perspective
there. And whatever guy ends up winning this is going to impact
all the players around him.
We’ve also seen the Colts are not shy about pulling the plug
on a guy in case he is
struggling, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see both these
guys starting at some point this
year, which just adds to a lot of uncertainty. Marcas I see you
so often on that promo that runs
nonstop on the network. You dancing in front of the screen.
But this is I believe the first
time you’ve been on this show. Let’s go to the stats real quick
here for our fantasy analysts
from NFL.com. In terms of appearances that they have made
on this show, Michael F Florio,
I believe, is somewhere in the 370 range we’ve got. Well point
is point is this is the first
one for you. Let’s do it again. Thank you very much. Coming up
on the insiders, we’ve got so
much more to go, including teams with a little bit of pressure on
them in 2025. And pressure comes
in different packages. Who’s on the list? We’ll discuss it next
on The insiders tonight in your
spacious La Quinta suite, you Celebrate as teams across the
league take the field for Back
Together weekend presented by YouTube TV. The two full days of
practices, player interviews.
Apparently a lot of face paint and marching bands and Jerry
Jones behind the scenes access.
It’s a can’t miss NFL reunion. Go to NFL.com back together
weekend for more information.
NFL.com. Tom Blair has a new article up right now detailing
the team’s feeling the most heat
entering 2025. The Steelers got the deal done with T.J. Watt
today, and as we’ve been saying
all night, that part of the business drama is over. Now
comes all the other drama. You
can read the full story from Tom Blair at NFL.com. Blair, welcome
back to The insiders. Tom
Pelissero, Judy Battista, Mike Garafolo Judy, if you are making
your own list here, who would
you say has the most heat on them in 2025? Oh, I like the
little flame thing there. Well,
I will agree with Tom. This was on his list. The Miami Dolphins.
It’s even hotter in Miami than
usual. They went to the playoffs in 2022 and 2023. Those were
Mike McDaniel’s first two
seasons, but last year felt like a very big step back to a
suffered another concussion.
They were under 500. Feels like a reset this season. It feels
like they are further from
toppling the Buffalo Bills than they have been recently. Maybe I
just heat up my coffee here
while I’m not on the screen. Never mind, I won’t do that.
Detroit Lions. How about that?
I’ll go with the Lions. Look, I know it’s sort of been all house
money right to this point with
with Dave, Dan Campbell and the way that they built this thing
up. But both coordinators gone.
Frank Ragnow, the all pro center. He’s gone as well. I
mean this windows don’t stay
open forever. And let’s see what the Lions can do this upcoming
season. Intrigued to see if they
can continue the ascent. Here’s my heat. My coffee right here.
There you go. See, there’s
different types of pressure in terms of teams to compete to go
win Super Bowls. Some teams have
other types of pressure, like the Giants whose owner has said,
hey, I’m running out of
patience. Get an interesting quarterback situation. A lot to
break down there. Kobe Turner
for the