Drake Maye and the 2025 NFL MVP Discussion // Eliot Wolf Meets the Media at NFL Combine // Drake Maye’s Shoulder Injury Recovery - 2/24 (Hour 3)

Oh, right, of course, because I should know who that is. I don't care what you think. I'll tell you something that rubbed me right. Felger and Maz on 98.5 The Sports Hub. All right, let's get to the Homies' Choice Awards. Of course, a reminder, you voted on these, you the homies, and the twist on these awards is that they do include the playoffs. This is funny. You don't have to be like Chris and make your votes for MVP before the playoffs. I thought you nailed it, Chris. Good for you. The MVP, and this was a runaway for the Homies Choice Awards, Matthew Stafford got 78% of the votes. The runners up with a small margin were Myles Garrett, Josh Allen, and Drake May actually is fourth here. It's amazing. I would love to have seen what the Homies would have voted on before the playoffs started. But again, to our point and some of the things we talked about after the Super Bowl, right? And, you know, it's something I tried to harp on in the week of the game. Like, they did not get enough credit. The guy that was one vote away from being the MVP had historically bad playoffs, right? And I wish I got to say it more on the pregame show. I was dying to. I got to say it in the first segment, but I never really got to talk about quarterbacks the rest of the game, the rest of the show. But, yeah, that to me was the story. But he kind of got a free pass because the Boston media mafia in New England, they didn't want to hear it. all the defenses he's playing were really good so it's like you weren't allowed to talk about that in the lead up to the super bowl and so that that that to me and then again like we talked about to get to the super bowl and get to the fourth quarter of the game and go damn the guy that was one vote away from being the mvp made one throw in the first three quarters of the super bowl one crazy do you have a thought maz before i uh before i offer mine no but i do like the title I think we should use that going forward Boston Media Mafia well this is one of the unfortunate things for the offseason and it's really just talk you just gotta listen to the talk but all of those who were against Drake May as MVP or supported Matthew Stafford as MVP or were on that side of the argument for those of you who care and a lot of you do a lot of you cared about Drake May and the MVP you gotta sort of taste their ass here for the next, well, I don't know, however long until next season, and there's other things to talk about. That's one of the unfortunate things. The people that said you might have been fool's gold kind of have a point to a degree, and those who said Drake May is not the MVP, kind of you got to sniff their ass here for the next four or five months, don't you think? Oh, for sure, yeah. And I know it'll never change, but I think it was a case of where these votes, and they shouldn't do any of this until the postseason's over because I think it was really glaring, the juxtaposition between the two of Stafford and Drake May as the games got bigger, you know? So, Chris Sims had more. This one's a little even more pointed. Go ahead, Jimmy, if you could, please. Chris Sims, number two, taking down the Boston media mafia. I would be embarrassed if I voted for Drake May for the MVP. I thought it was easy as a vote. That's strong. So listen. Listen, folks. Like, you got to respect this. This is the way this goes. If you had won and Drake May had proven himself, what are you doing all offseason? Oh, that take didn't age well. You must be kind of embarrassed thinking that Matthew Stafford was the guy. You'd be doing that for the next five months, right? Oh, for sure. You know you'd be doing that. That's what you do. You state a claim that the scoreboard comes out a certain way, and then you either got to take it. Now, see, like, unlike you people, I just sort of let it go. You win some, you lose some. I don't blow you. Sometimes I'm right, sometimes I'm wrong, and you win some, lose some, and we show up the next day and do it again. So I'm not quite like you folks, but I know how you folks handle yourselves, and that would be if Drake May won and showed out. You'd be like, oh, don't you feel? You voted for Stafford? That's embarrassing. thing so listen this is what happens when you're on the other side of it you got to kind of take it rewind that give me number two again chris sim's number two jimmy i i have sit here at that one and literally go i would be embarrassed if i voted for drake may for the mvp i thought it was the easiest vote ever like the easiest one ever so there's that sorry no i like it fortunately uh you weren't one of those and thank god you weren't because the ap vote matthew stafford beat him out by one vote, as you said. So your vote did matter a lot, Chris. Yeah, good. I'm glad it did. If my vote's the one that got it over, thank you for, Chris, having sanity and bringing everybody back there. Because like I said, I feel like the New England mafia hijacked this. They found little, oh, look at this stat. In the third quarter, when the sun dial's pointing northwest, he's the best quarterback that's ever been on the planet. Like they were just finding stuff. Like it was crazy. So yeah, he's awesome. We know that, but he wasn't the MVP. So Sims doing the full thing, which is like the full, I might even say like the full Felger. But again, I don't blow you, but he does the straw man voice. But again, the Boston sports media, Oh, well, when the sun is facing this way, his EPA was 32.6. And coming up with all these stats, you should be embarrassed if you voted for Drake May. you know and you know chris you yeah thank you world i voted for matthew stafford and i was the deciding vote you're welcome boston like he does the whole thing which again you've got to tip your cap you got to respect because what would you be doing if it went the other way so this is just one of the things you got to put up with this offseason mess oh i'm sure i'm sure pages fans will take it well but i'll tell you as he as he says it it sort of reminds me of how much how much some of those documents at the time went right up my ass. Like, really, you know, like, yeah, all of Stafford's passes, touchdown passes, was short. Yeah. May had longer ones. His passes were bigger. Like, oh, yeah, right. That's right. I forgot. Those tight windows in the red zone don't mean anything. Any clown can throw those. Like, you know, seriously. But he's so right. I totally forgot about that. So right. Yeah. Anybody even gave it a vote. Oh, when the sun is in this position, his EPA inside the 20 versus Stafford. Yep, he did the full thing. Yeah, Stafford's got better weapons and he plays indoors and it's warmer. Oh, look at this stat. In the third quarter, when the sun dials pointing northwest, he's the best quarterback that's ever been on the planet. He even gave you a voice. 617-779-0985. Your thoughts on everything. Open lines if you want them. What did, uh, what did, uh, Elliot Wolf have to say about Drake May? We'll get those comments and your calls. Look at this stat. Right after this. When the sun dials pointing Northwest, he's the best quarterback that's ever been on the planet. Who's watching your network when the threats come fast? Intra systems. Who detects, responds, and shuts attacks down day and night? Intra systems. Who powers advanced protection with Barracuda XDR before damage is done. Serving New England for 30 years. Access, security, trust. Intrasystems.com. Pilgrim. Useless. And mad. His ass is freaking huge. The Sports Hub. I mean, satisfied is a tremendous understatement. Drake made a ton of progress in a lot of areas, not only at the start of the season but throughout the season. And I think people forget that he's 23 years old and there's been a lot on his shoulders and there will continue to be with the expectation that it has being a quarterback for the New England Patriots. But I'm just really excited about him, his toughness, his competitiveness. He's always the same guy. and you know there's obviously areas on the field that he he's going to improve and and he's going to work with coach mcdaniels and coach grant and get those things taken care of drake may what do you think those things he needs to work on our mess what would you tell me needs to work on patience when i say patience i'm talking about marching the team down the field and methodically taking check downs and just if the defense is only going to give you something small take it take it you don't have to hit a home run every time you swing the bat So, you know, anytime you whip it. And to me, this is the biggest failing in his game. Because I think that that is really what triggers a lot of the other problems. The strip sacks, for example. Get rid of the ball. Just get rid of it. Like, if you get rid of the ball quicker, they're not going to be close enough to strip sack. You're waiting for guys to get down the field. And look, I understand that he's got great ability and he wants to make plays. That's a good thing. Do a little more game managing, Mavs? Yes. Take the easy money. Yes. Get rid of the ball. Check it down when it's called for. Take the easy throw. Move the chain. That thing, right? Yeah, and it all speaks. Like, I do think a lot of it comes with maturity, not to, like, beat this to death. But, you know, as you – now you're going up against guys who, in some cases, are better than you. Up until this stage of your life, you never really had to do that. So if that means making a simple play to keep the ball and play for the next play, that's what you do. More boring, don't try for the TikTok moment. Right, exactly right. Make the game more boring And it kind of a funny way to describe it but make it simpler Really Cause it it those tick tocky moments that lead to those dumb interceptions that you saw in the Super Bowl The one that was strip sex. Yeah. Mike, who said tick tock quarterback? Was that Murray? Yeah. Murray. Yeah. Yeah. Great way to put it. It is a great way to put it. And I was using that and referring to Caleb Williams, but Drake may has those moments too. Yes. I mean, this, this tick tock era that we're in where everyone's got it. like everybody plays in highlights instead of playing the actual game. And even the coaches fall victim to it. You know, going for it on fourth down all the time. Mike McDonald kicked field goals and won a Super Bowl. Elliott Wolfe was asked about Drake May's shoulder. Did it impact him in that Super Bowl? How much did it impact him in that Super Bowl? Number 18, Jimmy. I think that's probably a question better asked to him. I didn't feel that way. you know I just felt like you know we just couldn't get into rhythm offensively so that divide remains and I'm not saying there's like a problem or anything but it became clear to me through the reporting of guys that I absolutely trust you know with Tom Kern or Bedard those guys they weren't hearing it from freaking the guy at the gas station the team felt he was okay there's no doubt about it Drake May I think felt differently about it and I think that Drake May felt he was impacted by the shoulder more than the team did or the team felt he shouldn't have been as impacted by it as maybe he did and again i'm not telling you there's a there's some sort of rift there i'm just telling you that the team i don't know with the experience they say there's been a lot of quarterbacks who play with that injury they take the needle and they go out and they perform so it's really not that big of a deal drake may i don't know how many times he's ever had that or if it was particularly bad or he thought it was worse than the team or whatever i just think there was a little disconnect there between how drake may felt about it and how the team felt about it and i think that continues to this day and and and and elliot wolf just sort of articulated it he's better you better you know he's a better one to ask that we didn't you know i didn't feel it was a i thought it was about the rhythm of the offense i thought he was fine but you have to ask him i don't think drake may felt he was as fine as the team felt he was fine and that comment just sort of crystallizes it for me all right anyway back to your phones here's a john in new york on an MVP discussion. Go ahead, John. So let me start with a question. Who is the most valuable player on the Rams offense? Puka Nikua. Exactly. So my frustration is players like Smith and Jigba, Christian McCaffrey, earlier in the season, Jonathan Taylor, who clearly to me are the most valuable player on the team, aren't even in the discussion for MVP. I get the quarterback's the most important position, but I feel like we need a little more nuance in this conversation. Okay. Okay. Well, I mean, I think that's fair to say that, I mean, we got to go back here. Like, I don't care. I mean, the whole thing's too quarterback-centric. If that's what he's getting at, I agree there. Absolutely. And you could say that Drake May didn't have a Puka Nakua, and so Drake May was clearly more singularly responsible for the Patriots offense than Stafford was for his offense. That's fair. But the MVP thing, you know what the MVP thing is. It's a status and reputation and he's a human being. It's not just based on the pure logic of the thing. You know, you know the way that that goes. But if May had played better in the postseason, if he had showed out in the Super Bowl, you would have a little bit more of a case, I think. Matt in Boston. Go ahead, Matt. Yeah. Hey, guys. How you doing? I just want to talk about this Drake May, Matthew Stafford MVP thing. So, so what I want to say is this. you know those guys chris sims or whatever the heck his name was he's talking about you know drake may be an embarrassment all i can say is the guy he's for championing didn't even make it to the game so shouldn't that count for something you know drake may through for oh go ahead yeah well it's it's true he lost to the same team your guy did and when he played that same team he was really really good versus a borderline puddle which is what drake may was i mean that's another way to look at it right mass oh yeah no no here we go yeah your guy didn't even make it to the game but he played the same defense and actually played well right so like again as if you know everything is that simple to quantify look stafford was a worthy guy like i don't understand why people get their back up against this just because what drake may crapped his pants in the playoffs like all of a sudden that didn't happen no it did happen you're just protective of him because it's his second year in the league and you want him to be the next hero that's what it is that's why you're protective of them. And I'm just provoking you. I'm just doing the Felger and Maz thing. I get my jollies out of it. I do. Chris Sims, number two again, Jimmy. Just hit it for me one more time if you don't mind. Just one more time. See, I enjoy this kind of thing. I'm not a good person. Go ahead. I have sit here at that one and literally go, I would be embarrassed if I voted for Drake May. Keep going. For the MVP. I thought it was the easiest vote ever, like the easiest one ever. So there's that. Sorry. No, I like it. Fortunately, you weren't one of those. And thank God you weren't because the AP vote, Matthew Stafford beat him out by one vote, as you said. So your vote did matter a lot. Yeah, good. I'm glad it did. My vote's the one that got it over. Thank you for, Chris, having sanity. Thank you, Chris. Yes, you're welcome. And bringing everybody back there. Because like I said, I feel like the New England mafia hijacked this. They found little, oh, look at this stat in the third quarter when the sun dials pointing northwest. He's the best quarterback that's ever been on the planet. Like they were just finding stuff. Like it was crazy. So, yeah, he's awesome. We know that, but he wasn't the MVP. Okay. You got it. That's kind of fun. The New England mafia. Josh in New Hampshire. Go ahead, Josh. What do you got? Hey, guys. Just a quick Patriots thought. I don't think it's getting talked about enough. I know the offense is a big focus, but linebacker to me feels like a sneaky need for the Pats. To me, like Christian Ellis feels like the keeper and really flash in the second half of the season. Rest of the guys just kind of feel like question marks. Spillane baited really hard. I know he was hurt, but he just did not look right in the Super Bowl. I think he's going to get slower. Tobai rapidly declining. Gibbons, who is kind of decent, I think is a free agent. So it just feels like a thin room. There are going to be some guys that will be available that maybe are guettable. we could have drafted Devin Lloyd he's finally playing pretty good but he's probably going to stick in Jacksonville but other guys like Leah Chenal, N'Kobe Dean, Quay Walker could be there N'Kobe Dean in Philly is available? Yes yes and they could even find one of the other Ellis brothers I think the Atlanta one is available so just some one of your thoughts on that thank you okay yeah do you feel mad like they got away with it with Robert Splane a little bit like he was good did you think he'd be that good and is that like can you take that to the bank or did they just sort of max max out what robert spleen could bring you or is he am i overlooking him is he really that guy no i think the caller makes a good point uh that i thought spleen played better than i thought he was going to be to start with and then when he got hurt uh ellis in particular you know really has gotten way better in a year it's incredible how much better that guy he might be the most improved player on the team if you really and gibbons wasn't horrible so but i think his points a good one in that like they could use a good young linebacker like a really good you know it doesn't have to be a pro all pro or but a like a young good young linebacker that's there for five years yeah spillane's 30 he's gonna uh and he just turned 30 so it'll be his age 30 season next year coming off an injury and you ask the contract because don't you have to ask about the contract of course base salary of 8.3 uh base salary of 8.3 i want to see if that's guaranteed it might be guaranteed yeah his 2026 salary is guaranteed he ain't going anywhere robert explains here so where does that rank at the position like i gotta believe roquan smith for example in baltimore I think is making a crap ton of money. I'm just wondering where, you know, just to put it in perspective as to where that ranks, because they could use a good young linebacker. So, look, again, if his money wasn't guaranteed, you say they're not going to pay him the money, but since they owe it to him anyway. Okay, so here's what I just pulled up on Spotrack. So Fred Werner is the highest paid linebacker at $21 million. I think this precludes edge guys. Like, you know, the list is Fred Werner, Roquan Smith, Tremaine Edmonds, Zach Bond, Nick Bolton. These are all sort of inside guys, right? Yep. Yep. Okay. So Spillane is 10th. He's 10th. Wow. Yeah. So they say his average is 11. He's going to make eight something next year. But his average annual value is 11th in the or 10th in the league at 11 million per year. Okay. So he's like, but listen, in terms of the future and going forward, they need more at that spot. You can't Spillane and Gibbons. I just think they gave you more than you thought, more than maybe even they thought, right? Yes, definitely. Definitely. Look, early in the year, do you remember when we were talking to Bedard about their roster, Mike? One of the things he said was, you know, if Spillane goes down, they're screwed. And they did lose Spillane for a period of time. Their run defense really suffered, along with the absence of Milton Williams. So I don't want to make that an exclusive thing. They lost significant you know power in the middle of their defense when those two guys went down They got to try to avoid that Let me do this one quickly I know I late Jimmy but I just want this one I can let go Morgan, go ahead. Give me your question, please. Okay. Did everybody dump on Pat Mahomes, the two Super Bowls they lost when his offensive line couldn't block anybody? You did. I did. No, I didn't. You did. I didn't. You did. And Morgan, so when I said you, you're right. So I can't, I'll go back in my records and check exactly what you said when they lost the Super Bowl two years ago. But when I say you, this is the collective New England Patriot you. Murray's at least copping to it. I think Murray came on the air after that last Super Bowl loss and said something along these lines. Don't you ever, and I mean ever, put that guy in the same breath with Tom Brady again. That sounds accurate. Yeah, that's pretty good. Yeah, there's something like that. I like the inflection, too. That was not bad. Yes, don't you ever. Yeah. That's what New England Patriots fans said. They didn't give Patrick Mahomes a break because of his offensive line, did they? No. So, can I call it just if fair is fair? It is what it is. I'm sorry, Murray. Go ahead. No, he just got lumped in. He just got sabotaged. You didn't see that coming. I never said that. I'm just trying to make a phone call, man. Like I said, I don't want to paint you with a brush, so I'm going to go back through my extensive records and see what Morgan in the car had to say on that after that Chiefs game two years ago. Here's a Murray's update. Then we'll be right back. Don't go anywhere, everybody. Who's watching your network when the threats come fast? Intra systems. Who detects, responds, and shuts attacks down day and night? Intra systems. who powers advanced protection with Barracuda XDR before damage is done. Intrasystems! Serving New England for 30 years. Access, security, trust. Intrasystems.com I'm glad I got that off my chest. My favorite non-Brady-related Super Bowl in like 10 plus years. That last night was nearly perfect. 20 plus weeks of the slipperiest, greasiest, ref-aided wins, followed by the likes of Nick Wright and you two ghouls, shoving it down my and everybody else's throats that they're better than the Patriots ever were and what they did really wasn't that much and you better be careful and Kelsey better than Gronk and read better than Belichick, and Mahomes is already on Brady. Is he already better than Brady? It was all so good. No one saw that coming. Can't win with Brady in the building. Garbage time stat padding like a true a-hole. Kelsey did nothing. Taylor Swift booed. It was a nearly perfect night. Just the best. I was so happy. I'm still so happy. That was so good. I could not have asked for much more. Scale of 1 to 100, 98.5. That was the best. The best. And don't ever, until further notice, you Chiefs fans, Mitch Holtis, whoever, put that guy's name in the same sentence with Tom Brady's until further notice. Don't you do it. Because you can't. You can't. Because that guy and Belichick, during the 20 years of all that dominance, and they lost Super Bowl, sure, but at least they were competitive. They never got belt to ass. belt to ass belt to ass in their two losses like that guy and that team has god that was great so that's the way it goes do you did big jim murray there give patrick holmes a break for his offensive line at all do you hear that certainly not i will say now that we're a couple years removed from it though as much as i did personally enjoy that i get why people thought it was it was ultimately a suck super bowl you don't like blowouts 40 to 22 we're due for a good super bowl because we've had two suck ones now in a row it's been a while well yeah i guess two ass belt to ass like michael irvin on the sideline that's what happens when you lose the game when mahomes lost the game you most of you have to go right there you don't give a belt to ass don't give a break for the offensive line You don't give a break for any sort of lingering injury. It's no. Don't you ever, ever again put him in the same breath as Tom Brady. So you played that MVP thing with Matthew Stafford. The game ends that way. You just kind of got to take it. Do you think they can mess? Bobby in Arlington. Go ahead, Bobby. God, that was great. Hey, guys. How you doing? MVP question. Do you think when Stafford had all his kids on the sidelines all the time, do you think that helped Stafford maybe win the MVP a little bit to show that the NFL, like as a family sport, I'm just putting that out there, silly me, but I don't know. Bobby, to work with you, I don't think it's specifically that, but I think generally speaking, Mahomes won the MVP because he had a great year, he's well-liked, and he hadn't won it before. And I think all those things sort of added up to him getting it. You mean Stafford? I'm sorry, Stafford. Stafford, Stafford. Stafford is a well-liked guy by the voters. He had a really good year, and he hadn't won it before. And a lot of voters said this would be his last crack at it, and he's deserving, and we like him. And so he got the nod. And at some point, if Drake May is 15 years in the league and has never won an MVP, and proves to be the good guy that he looks like that he is, and hasn't won it and is in the exact same spot, he'll get the same vote. In a lot of ways it was. I mean, it was talked about as a legacy award as we got to the close of the season. He had the numbers obviously to back it up too. It wasn't completely made up out of thin air because you think it's the cute little kids is why they voted for him. I don't think it's anything like that. He's been around, never won it. He had the stats to back it up. That's why he won. Yeah, lifetime achievement award. And the fact that he's a good guy and well-liked helped. there's no because yeah because if he were you know i just brian bill belichick you get denied on your first day because you're an a-hole right it would have been f him right that's that stuff kind of comes around aaron rogers isn't going to get the same deference uh the a-holes you know like that stuff comes around and so the good and that means the good stuff comes around too and so i assume matthew staffers is as good as a guy as he projects and so he get he gets the nod on that. But the whole case would have been bolstered if your guy, if Drake May had showed out in the postseason. It just didn't work out that way. Again, it's NFL Combine time. We'll reset some of the stuff that Wolf had to say today and how it informs the future of some of your players. Belt to ass. I.E. Jim. Steph Diggs and Christian Gonzalez. I wonder if Steph Diggs is long for the New England Patriots and I wonder of Christian Gonzalez, how long he's going to be waiting for his new contract. Those items coming your way in our long commercial free segment next. You're listening. I listen to you every day. To Velger and Mads. I think this is a moral loss. On the Sports Hub. How do you self-scout and decide whether or not you might need to make a change there? Yeah, I mean, we... Which I think is aggressive, but everyone from Worcester to Haverhill wants to move him to guard at this point. You know what I mean? We're not moving him to guard. He's a young guy that had a tremendous season. You know, I would say three of his four worst games happened to come in the playoffs post-injury. And, you know, he was healthy, but I think he'd be the first to tell you that maybe he wasn't able to anchor the same way he had with the knee injury. But as we self-scout, I think the important thing is being honest with yourself and honest with your team and not really having an agenda. You know, there's a ton of people that are in my position and probably myself included, guilty of this sometimes, is kind of protecting your draft picks. But you have to get away from that and you have to understand, you know, protecting your draft picks. If that's not the best thing for the team, then you have to do something different. Okay. Resetting some of the Elliot Wolf stuff. So two, two things about that stand out to me. And that was him on a Todd McShay podcast. One is that he reiterates. We're not moving. We'll Campbell to guard. So I, I'm now, now that Vrabel has said it and Wolf has said it so strongly. And frankly, when Vrabel said it, I didn't think it was. I think he was telling you exactly where the team's coming from. and now I wonder why that is why are they so intent on keeping him a tackle I hope it's not the second thing that Wolf just addressed right there and that is you as a team you can't have an agenda just you know if you're protecting a draft pick but you're hurting the team that's not how to that's not what you're looking for there so you got to be honest and not just have an agenda that you drafted the guy so you're going to try and shoehorn him into something he's not capable of doing i hope they're not doing that with will campbell but maz as i said earlier i wonder if it's as much financial as it is anything else and the jason lock on forest story yesterday the report uh as soon as i looked at it last night i realized immediately there's just no validity to it because there's no way the patriots are going to pay the money to this packers left tackle rasheed walker as a free agent as is reported as he going to cost I mean again Walker is the cream of a very limited free agent crop writes jason la canfora and with this draft not as deep at tackle as some recent vintages personnel executives anticipate he will be among the highest paid in the league next month quote we think he ends up getting 25 million dollars a season said one nfl salary cap guru slash negotiator it's supply and Demand. I read that. I said, no, there's no way. If Rasheed Walker's going to make $25 million a season, they're out. They're out. They're not doing that after they just drafted a cheap, when I say cheap, Will Campbell makes just under $11 million a year, but it's a rookie contract. So just no matter where you're drafting, even high up in the first round, that's good quote-unquote value. So the Patriots look at Will Campbell and say, we're getting starting left tackle play. And listen, he had his troubles down the stretch, no doubt about it. but he was a representative starting left tackle in the NFL, and he ranks 41st in the NFL in average annual value, and that's about to go down because others are about to get paid. So by the end of a free agency, we might have someone, you know, with the 45th highest AAV at the position, and we're getting pretty representative play from it left tackle. We're not moving them. And it's the money part, Maz, that of course bothers me and should bother fans, but I think that's a huge part of the calculus. I think they look at the rookie left tackle contract and say he's good enough. We're ahead of the game. And that's another reason why he's staying at that position. I don't think there's any question they think that way. And I don't say that solely as an indictment on them. I think the whole world thinks of it that way now. And I say the whole world, the whole football world. This is how they're conditioned to run franchises now. It is about performance per dollar spent rather than what's the best performance. They're all looking at it, you know, relative to what the expenditure is at that position. So they look and, you know, it's not a totally stupid way to do it. But I guarantee you they look at it that way. Guarantee it. And sort of a tip off here was Elliott Wolfe denying that Jason LaConforo report to I believe it was Karen Garigian. But this was off to the side today over at the Indianapolis Combine. Jim, if you could give me that, please. Him denying the report. I saw that report and it's not true. He's under contract with Packers right now. And the two teams that were linked with that particular player, both drafted left tackles in the first round last year, so I'm not sure how accurate that would be. Is offensive tackle a need? You know, Vidarian's a free agent. Thayer's a free agent. and Morgan is 35 years old and, you know, he played awesome this year, but he's 35 years old, so tackle would be a need for our team. Okay, so he says tackle's a need for the team, and as Murray has pointed out earlier, it's pretty interesting that they say they're not moving him to guard, but they don't say anything about moving him to tackle, moving him to right tackle. Right tackle, again, because that was speculated in that report from Jason Lock and Forer who said, hey, the Patriots could be interested in this Packers left tackle, and if they are, that would mean maybe Will Campbell right tackle. It's not like he was asked about, Elliott Wolfe wasn't asked about that. So I think that's a fair thing to bring up. But either way, when he says the two teams linked to this Rasheed Walker were the Patriots and the Chiefs, and they both drafted tackles in this round last year, I just, the way I think it's a nod to the money or it's a nod to how teams are run, Maz. I mean, you spend a first-round pick at a player to position. He shows enough in year one. You're not going to tear up the value of having a rookie contract at a premier position to bring in someone really expensive at the top of the market when you've still got upside on your young player. And, oh, did I mention he's making half of what everyone else is making? And that's why I think Will Campbell's safe at tackle for now as well. The money, the money part of it. Yeah, and that list you had, too, again, doesn't really even differentiate between left and right tackles. That's right. So if you move into right tackle, he's still a value, right? Because, again, it may not be as much of a value because the right tackles make less than the left. But even so, if you can get another tackle who's, you know, average or below, you come out overall, you come out ahead. I'm sure there's got to be a business component to it like that in terms of how they look at it. 100 percent and it's disappointing but you're right there pats aren't the only team that do it but the patriots do it look would they be a better team with this rasheed walker at left tackle and will campbell at guard or right tackle yes they would be because rasheed walker is a above average nfl left tackle he ain't great but he's above average and will campbell might be really good at left guard and so they'd be a better team but that's not how they look at it How they look at it is Rasheed Walker at $25 million per year or Will Campbell at $11 million per year. No-brainer. No-brainer. Will Campbell is close to Rasheed Walker, and he makes less than half the money. He's staying at left tackle. So I think that's just – and I think Wolfe is sort of giving a nod to the Chiefs as well, maybe doing the same thing. Saying, we just drafted a guy here. We're paying him peanuts. We're going to now go out and break the bank for a slightly above average left tackle when we got a guy for cheap playing there right now who could be fine. So, no. No dice on Rasheed Walker. Forget about that. I'm happy for the fodder from Jason La Confora, but I'm not buying it. Bad report, in my opinion. Meanwhile, the future of some of their players. Let's just do this quickly. If I were Steph Diggs, I wouldn't be feeling very comfortable about his future in New England. And if I were Christian Gonzalez, I wouldn't be very comfortable feeling I'm going to get paid this offseason. First, here is Elliot Wolf on Steph Diggs and his future in New England. Go ahead. I'm not going to get into any specific players today. You know, there are certain conversations that we're having, and, you know, we'll see what happens with everyone. Doesn't even say his name. Not getting into any specifics about any specific player, even though he's pretty much talked for the last two days straight on Will Campbell. He's given you plenty of specifics on Will Campbell, and he's given you plenty of specifics on Drake May. Those are just two examples. and if you want to talk about, well, there's a contract thing, Deceptics is under contract so why would, you know, it's not even like you're talking about someone on another team or someone up for a contract meanwhile Chris Gonzalez is also under contract and also might be at a crossroads with his deal because you can pay a rookie after his third year so shortly either a couple minutes before or a couple minutes after saying about Deceptics, I'm not going to talk about any specific guy or any specific player. He's asked about Christian Gonzalez and says this. Yeah, I mean, Christian obviously, you know, was good before and made an even more significant jump this year. And he's someone that we want to work with in the future, obviously. And we'll have those conversations at the appropriate time. Okay, he says his name. Says he's someone we want to work with going forward. Now, look, if I'm Christian Gonzalez, we'll talk about at the appropriate time. To me, what the team deems appropriate and what he deems appropriate, I'm sure there's a difference in opinion there. Gonzalez wants to get paid like Stingley did in Houston and Sauce Garner did in New York. He wants to get paid now. I'm sure the Patriots look at it and say, you've got a whole other year on your deal and then an option year if we want to give it to you as well, so now's not the time. The appropriate time, I think Chris Gonzalez may have to wait, and how he responds to that is a whole other question. I don't think the Pats are eager to pay him early. I hope I'm wrong. I think that's a pretty obvious juxtaposition there. One guy Gonzalez has talked about like a real person. He's named. while the other, Steph Diggs, isn't named and might as well just be a cog in the machine. He didn't want to touch him with a 10-foot pole. At least he mentioned Christian's name, and we're going to be talking about the timing on that contract. On Steph Diggs, we're not talking about any specific guys. He didn't even mention the name. I think that sounds ominous for Steph Diggs, right? Oh, I thought it was the most revealing thing he said in the whole session. I thought it was clearly hands-off. Like, I'm not going there. I'm not going to talk about it. I'm not touching it. which to me was revealing. So what are they going to do at that position? Because they need something. I don't trust them to draft a guy at number one. I mean, you can do it. It happens. But you shouldn't bank on that. You should never go into a draft, especially at 31, saying we need a number one receiver and we'll get it at the draft. That's way too risky. So what's the plan there? If Steph Diggs is on the outs, and it kind of sounds like it is, They have to do something there, and it's usually not cheap. So whatever that is, it's another reason why Will Campbell's saying, we're not paying for a free agent left tackle and a big free agent receiver. You're staying at left tackle with your nice rookie contract, and we're going to spend money elsewhere is what that feels like to me. What the heck are they going to do at receiver? But, again, the whole thing that is wrapping it up, the money is just a big underlying factor here this offseason, as it always is, but this one especially. I'm just not feeling they're going big money-wise. They're going to be looking for value signings. This whole thing about Drake May's rookie contract and spending when you have a quarterback on a rookie contract, I think we are in the process of getting that rug pulled out from underneath us by the Patriots. That's just the way it feels to me. But either way, there's some stuff from Elliott Wolfe. You can weigh in on that, all that football stuff, 617-779-0985. We circled back to the Olympic hockey. You can weigh in on that. We had some baseball stuff that you can go back to as well. All of it. Your calls after Murray gets you updated. 90 seconds, no commercials here.