Mike Vrabel Meets the Media at NFL Owner’s Meetings // A.J. Brown to the Patriots? // Caller Reaction - 3/31 (Hour 2)

I think that feels like a nice package. Yeah. Those phones like it's. The sports up Larry and over quick. Yeah I got both of my hands free one done the death and went on the phone. There's any questions. Hey, uh, mass. Quick question for you. The extra anything really bothers me, especially when you're in the gym. You know, you're in the gym base can't get them in. Since he didn't score. Why don't I get to be a big and bun can K F. I mean, just Larry, we get this so often. You listen to the show all the time. We get the question constantly. You know the answer. Don't you know the answer, Larry? The games are run from upstairs in the analytic community does not believe in bunting. And they don't believe in the game. They don't believe in the game. They believe that you have better chance to score the guy from swinging away than bunting. That's the answer. I don't like it either. But you know the answer right now. We've been over this now for like 10 years. It gets a little annoying. We still get asked that question. You know the answer. Yeah, they also when they're on the road, they play for two now for one because they feel like you have to get two to win the game. And there's that, which frankly, I think it's stupid, but not every time you'll see the home team in that in the game the other day. The reds team and a tie game runner on second. Do not automatically bump that guy over. They should they swing away, and that's because the analytics. Run the show, Larry, you know the answer. It's unbelievable. To me, I'd move him every time. I bumped the guy over every time forced the other team to score or you know, if you got to, you know, back in the old days, there used to be left handed hitters with a really reliable bat who you could trust would pull the ball on the ground to the right side. Same thing. If you got one of those guys, but who would you get to play with? I mean, I'm not going to be playing with him. I'm not going to be playing with him. I'm almost nobody. You know what I mean? Yeah, almost nobody. I would do it every single time play for the one and then try to shut him down. You know the answer, Larry by now you do. Mary Manchester. Hi, Mary. Hi Mike. Hey guys. So the Tiger Wood story is crazy to me. I mean, obviously his excuse is silly, but what I find the most astounding about this is how many roll over accidents can someone survive? I understand that. But I think that's the reason why. The most accidents are usually deadly, so I don't really think you should be on the road again. I think he's pushing his luck at that point. Mary The first one again cracked his femur, which now is sort of wrapped into the sympathy of Tiger Woods, was coming back from this really bad broken leg and it reset the femur and blah, blah. How did it happen? Like good grief. And I think you know, this is me now going a step further. I don't expect anyone else to do this, but I think even his golf injuries are suspicious. I think he broke down. He broke down. He broke down. He broke down. He broke down. He broke down. Football or baseball players would break down. And what was the germination of all of that? I mean, he's got injuries that are just. I don't think you're finding your typical golfer, but that's a day. I don't expect you to do that. But it did just act him like he's some sort of victim because he had back surgeries is that again, giving him a break. I mean, again, the leg injury is something that he didn't really resisted. Like how is somebody not said to him after that for that car accident where he broke his leg and nearly killed himself, Frankly. That accident. How did someone say to him? Listen No more. You're not driving anymore. You cannot drive anymore. You're not allowed flipping the car in that neighborhood. Is what do you have to be doing? How to flip your car in a 25 mile an hour little residential neighborhood like that. You got to drive up the back of a power washer truck at what speed or these had to go and fast either that or it's a bad look for Range Rover. They usually show the commercials of those things driving mountains. Right. And the commercials, they get up the mountain. No problem. Up the waterfall. Like how completely out of control do you have to be to flip it? You just run into the thing. You flipped it. But what do you expect? He had back surgery. Oh, I see. He had back surgery. So now anyone that has back surgery, you're allowed to shoot yourself to the moon on opiates and flip your car. Because what do you expect? Tommy's in Milwaukee. He's not a brewer guy. He's a Red Sox guy stranded in Milwaukee. Go ahead, Tommy. What did you think of Kyle Harrison on the brewers last night? I loved it, Tommy. We opened the show talking about it. The socks just give us another guy. Just keep sending us your. Hey, listen, Craig, anytime you want to do a deal, the windows always open in Milwaukee where the phone will always answer that you want another idea. You know, any other trades, any of any of our other guys you like, the phones are always open, the windows always Craig. Anytime, anytime you want to send us another picture, we'll take it. Huh? It's. We, it was sure, but in fireball offense, the first time now we're giving him another guy, it's a egregious, egregious decision making. Trading with the brewers should be a fireball offense for any Red Sox GM. I especially when it comes to this stuff, when the Red Sox got this Kyle Harrison back for Rafi devils and Dakota called us or people would say, well, watch out for this Kyle Harrison. I was dubious. Like, well, listen, if the Red Sox like him, how great could it be? Or they're saying it now, I'm gonna have to see it to believe it. Then the brewers gave up Caleb Durbin form and I said, Oh, watch out for this. I bet it's all like, cause the brewers have a track record of flipping these young pitchers and they've got a great little pitching development thing that they got going on. And suddenly I said, Oh, actually there might be something there. If the brewers are willing to make that trade. And the fact that you were on the other side of it should tell you something. When they made the deal though, Harrison was the best player in the deal. I mean that they were getting back. Yeah, I remember people in San Francisco saying, no, he's got a little something. You might be able to get something out of him. But I'll tell you what, again, I even say if they look at it and say, well, we had totally, we had Harrison, we had early, you know, we're going to trade one of them. Fine. No problem. Can you get something back from other than the kid who played Division three baseball? What are you getting in the return for those guys? This guy, the first time I saw him swing the bat, I said, uh-oh. What did they give up for Quinn Priester? Oh, you mean, um, the socks? No. Oh, oh, I gave you what the socks. Yeah, that was Nick York. They traded Nick York for Quinn Priester with the pirates. Is York doing anything? No, I don't think so. I'll check. But I mean, but York was a guy like he was sort of a touted guy in the system. Wasn't he? Yeah, I saw him. He was a name you knew. I saw him. He was a first round. He was the first first round pick, I believe, for, um, high and bloom. And I, when I saw him in spring training, I went, this guy's nothing special. So, uh, let's see this. So he's in Pittsburgh this year. He is, and he is. Last year, he hit 232 for the pirates the year before he hit 216. Okay. So I'm telling you, Nick North, Nick York said nothing. Okay. But you got Quinn Priester in your system. Yeah. No, you won that deal. Okay. So you win that deal. You absolutely won that deal. And before you even really give Quinn Priester a chance, you feel the need to trade them for competitive balanced draft picks and players to be named later. Why? Like someone has to explain that to me. And even if you don't fully believe in Quinn Priester, the cost there, you gave up something for him, you won the trade. And before you even really give him a chance, you feel the need to trade him for really fringe considerations. Yeah. It was mostly that draft pick. I think it ended up being like 35th or something like that. That's what they wanted. They wanted the draft pick. And again, I don't put a premium on it. What would you rather have the number 35 pick in the draft or a guy who could win you 12 to 14 games? Priester is a legit rotation major league pitcher. And you can say he's a middle of the rotation, bottom of the rotation. Fine. But I don't know. What was it? And then Kyle Harrison, I think has a higher ceiling than that. And you got him for devours and it costs you nothing. I keep going back to that. So Mike, the problem is that we're evaluating all their moves based on the baseball. They're not evaluating them on the baseball. They're evaluating them on the business and on the draft picks and on the ability to keep payroll down. Howard and Randolph, go ahead, Howard. Yeah, quickly, guys. Move on. Had the accident on 95, not 24. And as far as Tiger Woods goes, I really doesn't matter how many surgeries he's had. The bottle of the medication saved right on it may cause drowsiness. Do not drive or operate a machinery. I mean, other people are nappling him and letting luckily hasn't killed anyone yet. I would say so. How it's right. Like the next accident, someone else gets hurt. You know, he's in big trouble then. Right now, all he's doing is slamming up cars and hurting himself. Like, you know, not a lot of people can have sympathy for anyone. When that happens, you start hurt to someone else. They're coming after you. Dexter in the car. Go ahead, Dexter. Yeah, that's sound from the collar before the break was the Milwaukee Brewers just absolutely giving it to Craig Breslau. Anytime these guys want to make a trade, they get together and go, yeah, let's call that idiot Breslau up. We'll get whatever we want. That's exactly how I picture it happening. And as far as they spend their money, you know, it's we hear, you know, they're sick, they're seventh in the league. Walker Bueller, 25 million, Patrick Sandoval, 18 million, Lucas, Julito, 38 and a half, James Paxton, 10, Corey, Kluber, 10, Garrett, Richard's 10. You know, you add all that up and you're getting exactly Dexter. What a great list. Would you just hear, I'm going to make that sound now underneath the table. Give me that list again. Would you please? Yep. Walker Bueller, 25 million, Patrick Sandoval, 18 million over two years. Hasn't pitched Lucas, Julito, 38 and a half million over two years. James Paxton, 10 million, Corey, Kluber, 10 million, Garrett, Richard, 10 million, all of whom absolutely blow Dexter. And that comes out to about 110 million. Instead of doing that, why wouldn't you just give Quinn pre-ster a turn in the rotation for a month and see if you got anything for nothing. And then when you have Kyle Harrison at 24 years old at six, two, two, 15, who throws 96 and has good control from the left side, instead of wasting that money on those guys, why don't you give him the ball for a month and see if you might have something there. And now you got something that cost you nothing. That is to me, I don't get it. I don't either again. And I've been saying this for about six years. They keep bringing in these bums on one. And you know what the answer is? Because when they get it wrong, the one year deal is, you know, gets expunged or, you know, it disappears into one year deal. It's not a six year deal. So, but the six year deal is what is required or really eight to go get Max freed. So Max freed costs eight years. Otherwise you can just do a eight one year contracts and they choose the eight one year contracts. And I think that blows. I hate that. And here's another one that I'd rather take Max free for five years on an eight year deal and pay him what you got to pay him. You can afford it. Murray points out this one per Mark Fine sand who covers or used to cover the double race Yankees. The Yankee. Do you ever cover the race? So you're thinking of, Oh God, now I'm trying to blame. Mark, a nerdy sounding guy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Go ahead. You know, I'm talking about Mark also. Yeah, Mark Fine sand. According to sources, the Seattle Mariners wanted Tristan Cascius as a in a trade for Louis Castillo. Back in, I don't have the year. Oh, four in. Oh, four. I had twenty, twenty four. Twenty, twenty four in twenty, twenty four. Thank you, Jim. In December of twenty, twenty four. According to sources, the Mariners wanted Tristan Cascius back in a trade for Louis Castillo, something the Red Sox were unwilling to do unless the Seattle Mariners took back Masataka Yoshida and his remaining contract. Topkin, Mark Topkin is what you're thinking of. The Red Sox pivoted away from Castillo and signed Tristan Cascius instead. Louis Castillo last night against the Yankees. Six innings, no runs, two hits, seven strikeouts on 95 pitches in eight career starts versus the Yankees. Castillo is as a two four ERA, forty four strikeouts over forty eight innings. Thirty six hits allowed. You'd think you'd want a guy like that and your rotation against your main rival. Wouldn't you? You were trying to ditch money. It's all about the money. We're trying to get rid of Yoshida. They wouldn't do it. So did they sign Tristan Cascius? No, no, no, no, they that's wrong. You're thinking about them signing Luis G. Gellito. That's who they pivoted to. I'm just, yeah, that's my best. So they signed Gellito instead, not Cascius. There was also a proposal I had heard of David Hamilton for Luis Castillo straight up and said no. And what's that? And the Red Sox said no. So I had David Hamilton for Castillo. The Mariners were willing to give you Castillo for David Hamilton. Yes. This David Hamilton is a perfect brewer, by the way. I've been watching him. He brings nothing. No, zero. He's got one plus asset. He's fast. He can run. He's fast and he's field decently. Perfect. No, Mike, wait, he'll get to the baseball. He can't field it though. We saw that last year. He's such a nothing burger. Perfect for us. But I so, Max, you mentioned Brezzo in this group, like you do have to give him something. It does feel like they're developing some pitching. Yes. I don't know if it's Bailey or the lower miners or what they're developing it. But can they identify it? You know, they're they're identifying of pitching or their management of these assets to me blows feels really suspect. Yeah, it is. And again, I question. Look, I think what they do is they identify players based on where they can squeeze out more ability. So like a guy like Toley, OK, that's, you know, Toley throws the ball hard, but they love the fact that the extension is there so that the ball is released closer to the plate 95 plays like 97. They did the same thing with Oviado, but I watch Oviado and I say he just looks like a big stiff to me. There are certain guys that you watch on the mountain and you watch them throw and they're all kind of all over the place and the ball comes from a little bit of a weird angle, but they're never going to throw strikes consistently because their deliveries blow. So totally control strikes. Oviado can't. Again, I'll ask the question. Why did they need Oviado? I don't know. Why did they need him? I don't get it. Because they were a guy with a 4.3 era in his career, who, you know, is going to be a free agent in a couple of years. Why did they need him? Because they wanted to stuff early and totally in the minors for service time reasons, probably thought they needed an arm and early just forced their hands. So probably he looks so ready. Right. So it's not because of his ability. No, no, got nothing to do with that. The contracts. Right. It's about managing their business and they needed the body to keep those kids in the minor league. Well, this didn't take long to get here, did it? But they deserve it. It's not just that they lost three or four. Look at the roster. Look at the roster and how it was built and ask yourself why these guys are here. That's what you, that's what this start is a jumping off point for. Why are they here? We continue with your thoughts on this mix and some football as well from the owners meetings right after these words. Felger. Mass. The sports. Might still have cap space available for any big moves. If you want to make them, I do a lot of things. Focus on the cap space is not one of them. I don't, you know, I mean, we've been Robert and Jonathan have given us all the resources that we've needed since I've been here to sign players. The amazing facility that we just moved into last Monday. So I'll let Elliot and Ryan and Richard and Matt grow. Focus on the cap space. He knows it. It's a player rep. Big time player rep. It's the middle of all of it. He knows it as well as anyone. I don't focus on that because it's, it's just the guys upstairs. Making the books, making it look like they, it's not a factor. It's not an issue. It's the money. Do we have the money that we need and are we getting the money that we need? And he said he was. Cap is a non factor. And that's the answer there, but it's just sort of a contrast to how Robert Kraft was talking. So Mike Grable spoke to the NFL owners means a couple of thoughts for you here. Here's craft. Yeah. Do you have craft number four from yesterday on man Gonzalez? Jimmy? A mindset when it comes to the contracts of some of your better great players, meaning Christian Gonzalez, Drake may trying to get ahead of the curve there and trying to sign them before, you know, as we see these contracts escalate and escalate and escalate. Do you have a philosophy about that? Well, we always try. We have a sour cap, so we have a limit. So we have to think what's best for the team in terms of timing of the signing. And of course, the earlier you do it, it's believed. It's more economically satisfactory. But we leave that to Mike Grable, Elliot Wolfe and our people making the contract decisions. We're lucky to have those two players. And I hope and believe they'll be with us for the long term. So there's two things here. One is so Christian Gonzalez is due to be paid. They asked Robert Kraft, well, we have a salary cap and I leave it to Vrabel and Elliot Wolfe anyway. So those guys are going to make the call. Then they asked Mike Vrabel about it and Vrabel says, I don't even think about the salary cap and I'll leave that to Ryan and grow and whoever else he mentioned. You feel the pass of the hot potato around here a little bit. It's kind of what it feels like. Yeah, good point. And you know why they're doing that? Because it's bullcrap. Well, whether it's a stalemate with Christian Gonzalez, I think it's that. I don't think they're making any progress with Gonzalez. And so Robert is well, there's a cap and I leave that to Elliot and Mike anyway. So they asked Elliot and Mike and Mike says, I don't think about the cap and I leave that to Ryan and so and so. Well, who's we leaving this to then? Like who's who's doing this one? So I think it's twofold there. You know, one is Vrabel rightfully dismissing the salary cap as anyone with any sort of critical thinking does when it comes to the NFL. A real familiarity with it like he has. He knows it's a crock. So it's not just that you have to be able to look at a little critically and tell the owners are full of crap. A lot of people don't want to do that. But it's obvious the owners are full of crap when it comes to the salary cap. Vrabel knows it. So I don't even think of that. He doesn't concern himself with that because the guys upstairs will make the number look like whatever they want it to look like, whether we want it to be bigger than it is or less than it is. They'll figure out a way. It's easy. I don't bother myself with it. But they are sort of, I don't know. There's a lot of talking around. A lot of double talk when it comes to Christian Gonzalez, you know, as tends to happen when it comes time to pay someone or someone's do a lot of money. It's like, I don't know. Yeah, you're the old pocket pat. It's like what we're hearing here, Murray is the Patriots patting their pockets. Yeah. So we got this from Christian Gonzalez. We got this and that's what the Patriots are doing. Yeah. Well, you know, why don't you ask a fable about that? And you know, we got Ryan, I got, I don't got it now, but you know, I, we got, we got, we got, you know, got Mike and Elliott to do that. And then they asked Mike, I was, I don't care about the salary cap. Go ask Jim and Ryan and those guys and they're all patting their pockets. I'll get you Tuesday. And meanwhile, Christian's Alice is saying, hello. Where's my money? Pay me. Pay me. No, this thing feels like a stalemate is what it is. I just, as I said, yesterday. These guys that get paid in year three, there's no obligation for the team to do it. There's no, the player's not a free agent. They're still under contract for one more year, two. If you want to put on a, that rookie thing, that rookie option year, another one after that, if you want to go franchise tag. So there's no gun to the head of the team to do it. Some teams just feel the need to do it early and the players want it early and the CBA allows you to do it early. So some teams do it early. The Patriots to me just never felt like one of those teams. They'll do it for me. I've, I've, I have no doubt that may we'll get paid. He'll get paid at the top of the market and he'll get paid next year. Christian Gonzalez. I don't know. Vrabel was asked about Christian Gonzalez. How about Vrabel number four from today, Jimmy Vrabel for interesting. You guys have an opportunity to pick up his fifth year option. We haven't picked it up. We should pick it up. He's going into the year making, we wanted million. We want to make sure that we draft extremely well. And then we identify the guys that we want to keep with us and that have earned long-term extensions with us. And Christian Gonzalez, certainly one of those players. And yeah, but I can't count on a negotiations. So I don't know if I had to guess it's not going well, but it's purely a guess from 10,000 feet. I, you know, I don't, no one talks to me and no one's told me anything. I just, just feels like the Patriots are reaching into their pile. I, I don't know. I don't read the visual and verbal clues. You have one side, the player on the Jumbotron at a Celtics game in front of basically 30,000 people going, I want my money. I'm one of the only players that showed up in the Super Bowl for this damn team that just got their ass kicked in the big, on the biggest stage. Where's my money? And the team is going, I don't look at me. Look at him. I mean, I'm supposed to pick up the check. Well, rabbit ear my pockets. Right. I got nothing. See, there's nothing here. Yeah. Go ahead. Yeah. Mike and Elliot are in charge of that. Then they asked Mike and he said, well, that's Ryan and so and so and grow and those guys upstairs with the bean counters. So they're all just sort of passing the buck because nothing's coming. He did give Gonzalez though, what I thought was a pretty solid endorsement or at least his own. He said Christian is one of those guys. Like, you know, because we don't think there's been some doubt as to like, we have the discussion of would you do it? Would you trade them? Sounds like Vrable wants to keep them, doesn't it? Sure. Yes. I mean, I don't think Vrable is toying with the idea of trading them. I saw that this tells me that if he gets traded, it's because he was forced into it. When does the Patriots offseason program begin? Do we have a date on that? The OTAs. Well, it starts with phase one, which is like before they even get to the camps. It starts with, you know, lifting weights, no on field work, no work with footballs at all, just conditioning, strength and conditioning, I guess. For lack of a better term. 20th, April 20th. There we go. Is that this year? Are we sure April 20th, 2026? Oh, this was last year. Sorry. Right. So it starts in April. It's phase one. It's not mandatory. And they go through different phases. Phase one is lifting weights and running and no same date this year, April 20th, April 20th. So that just marked that one. You know, who's around, who's around. Yeah. It's, he's not a holdout yet because it's not, it's not mandatory. Nothing's mandatory in the offseason until you get to that three day mini camp. That's mandatory. Which way it used to be. I don't know if they split that up now or there's a few mandatory things. That's not one of them. But Christians, Alice is clearly here. I mean, he's at the Celtics game. Yeah. So it's not like he's, is he training here? Is he training somewhere else? Like that's the first thing to look at, I think. So we'll see on that. But feels like a, feels like a fair amount of heaven and hawn there from the Patriots, which shouldn't surprise you. So there's a football item for you. We have more of that and your calls right? If a big German gets you updated. Why can Tony have a definite chemistry? Are they 100% are they? Yes. 100. Did I do I study? Consider them the periodic table of sports. Stop. Put that in the pipe and smoke. But sorry, we need to blow a gas. No, no, blow it, baby. Blow it. Belger and Maas. There's a story in Mass Live. It feels like Elliot Wolfe may have done an interview with Mark Daniels. And Mass Live, he didn't say that he got the quotes from somewhere else. So maybe it was a one on one interview. Yeah. I don't know if the sound is out there, but headline Elliot Wolfe. Patriots had quote varying levels of dysfunction before Mike Vrable era. And Mark Daniels writes that the Patriots de facto general manager admitted Monday that he's having a lot more fun adding pieces to the roster as opposed to another rebuild. Quote, I definitely think it's more enjoyable. We had varying levels of dysfunction over the last three years before 2025. And it was kind of rewarding to be able to first, to be able to, first of all, we won. But we also had some stability for the first time in a few years, he said. That's always rewarding and just kind of understanding that for our staff, it's easier for them to understand exactly what kind of players we're looking for. So in those areas, it's been fun. I'll just continue quickly. Multiple sources have told Mass Live that part of the issue in 2024, the dried male year, was that the team lacked direction under Mayo. When it came to free agency and the draft, there was minimal input in what the coaching staff wanted in their players at certain positions. The lack of direction changed drastically under Vrable. That continued with the assistant coaches as well. Wolfe said he's been impressed with Vrable's staff and Vrable's staff's willingness to dive into draft prep following a long Super Bowl run. Wolfe noted that the relationship between the coaching staff and Scouting Department has been helpful in their roster building. Quote, I would say where I came from in Green Bay, I don't know that it's still this way, but it was a little bit more kind of separated like the scout, scout, and the coaches coach. I don't think that's the best way to do things. And in New England, not just Mike, but all the coaches are very passionate about the scouting process. And they put a ton of time into not only free agency, but the draft, you know, zooming with players and going to workouts. That's pretty cool for assistant coaches because they really had to work a lot longer this year than the average team. And they were all really, really eager to go out and do pro days. And that's pretty cool to see because no one would have begrudged them to be like, Oh, I'm going to take a few days. But they were like, no, I want to hit as many pro days as I can. Great. Let's go. Your thoughts, Ma'am. OK, so again, the story says, starting with the initial quote from Wolfe, he says over the last three years before 2025. Yes, sir. And then sources have told Mass Live that part of the issue in 2024 is the team like direction under mail. What about 2023 and 2022? Yeah. Hello. Hello. Who is the coach in 2022 and 2023? Bill Belcher. So I guess what I'm saying is, you know, I think there is a tendency now on some level to say, OK, well, look to look how much better it is with Vrabel than it was with mail. It's also better now with Vrabel than it was with Bill. If the dysfunction was over three years, two of them were underneath that penis. So. But again, this totally speaks to how Bill ran the organization at the end that he was dismissive of scouts. He was dismissive of the process. He did the whole thing on his own. I think this story is more about Bill than it is about Mayo. It's just that he's not mentioned in there and I'm not picking on Mark Daniels for it. I'm just saying that to me, if it's three years of dysfunction, then Mayo walked into two of them. You see what I'm getting at? Yes, sir. There were already two years of dysfunction there when Mayo came along. So the problem started with Bill. I just don't want Bill let off the hook. I don't want all of a sudden Bill erased and like, boy, they had to make the change after Mayo. No, they also had to make the change after Bill. Bill is the one that started it. I just don't want that part of the story lost. At the end, he damaged the thing. He heard it. He was a negative. You know, he was a harm to the cause. So I just feel sometimes like even still, now at least it's starting to get lost a little bit. Yeah, I don't think that should get lost. It gets portrayed as rabble cleaning up Drod Mayo's mess. Bingo. He's not cleaning up Drod Mayo's mess. He's cleaning up Belichick's mess. Absolutely. The problem is that Mayo couldn't clean it up. Yeah, it was experienced enough and just not the guy to do it. I just don't Mayo didn't create this. No, no. And I'll tell you the and I'm not telling you that Mayo did a good job because he didn't. The mistake there was putting Mayo in that spot. He was not equipped to handle it. And that's to no fault of his own, really. So that one's on the crafts. So the but three years of dysfunction. And then we only talk about one of them. What about the other two from the A hole who let the place on fire at the end? Basically, you know, and snubbed his nose at the process, picked whoever he wanted. You dismiss scouts all but entirely and then went and laid on a dock in the Caribbean like he was a freaking manatee. They fired him for a reason, didn't they? You know, wow. Like I just that should not get lost. That's all. Belichick's a great coach. It was deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. I will commit to all of that. But let's not all of a sudden erase the final couple of years that he was here and dump it all on Gerard Mayo. I promise your calls mixing Red Sox, Patriots in our long commercial free segment next. Thoughts, calls, emails. I get my job. He's not I do. I'm not a good person. Go ahead. Felger and 95, the sports hub. The A.J. Brown story keeps getting connected to New England. You're smiling. Yeah. Is there anything to that? Are you interested at all? A.J. Brown is a member of the Eagles as how we mentioned yesterday. And we haven't had any conversations about anything regarding that in a long time. In a long time. OK, you guys heard it here from Elliot Wolf first. I believe he kind of tells the truth. I really do. Wolf, whether he means to or not or can't help himself or isn't sort of sophisticated enough or slippery enough to really do it. I think he kind of kind of speaks the truth. I do. So I believe him that they haven't really talked about it in a while. That means one of two things. It's dead or it's in the bag. And there's no reason to talk about it. They're just waiting for the Philadelphia Eagles to make the move. Maybe for that June 1 date or whatever. But. I think it's one of those two things. What do you think it's closer to? I'm leading towards the second thing that it's in the bag. Me too. Yeah, because there's been no other sneaky reporting about any other teams that might be interested. There was that Rams thing from about now about a month ago. But other than that, I don't know. I don't feel to me like there's anyone like waiting in the weeds. It feels like it's in the bag. I think they're either in the bag or the Patriots are just they've made their offer. They're not going to budge off and they're just waiting now for the Eagles to release them or come off their perch. And they shouldn't budge. Right. Exactly. But whatever it is, I can't see anyone else but the Patriots getting this guy. And he ain't going back there. No way. I mean, that's obvious too. Yeah, no way. Where the Eagles are talking about him. He's he's on the team for now. I have no other statement. He's on the team for now. That's what Roseman and Sirianni have said. He's on the team for now. He's on the team for he's a he's a member of the field. Nothing has changed. He's a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. They're not speaking about him with any warmth or any sort of relationship. They're just saying he's on the Eagles. He's gone. He's not going back to the Eagles. And so where's he going? And the Patriots know it. And they're just waiting for the Eagles to poop or get off the pot. And so that's what I think is going on there. And Vrable Vrable had a chance to shoot it down today and he didn't do it either. How about number one? Jimmy Vrable from today. Number one. Someone like A.J. Brown is still on the table at this point. We we've talked about this since last January. We're going to try to do everything we can to strengthen our roster through the draft, through free agency, multiple ways of player acquisition. So anything that we can continue to do to strengthen the roster, we're going to try to do. OK, so he did. They're just waiting on the Eagles. Yeah, looking again, as much as and might just quickly, the the Eagles should wait it out to like and not because of the whole June 1st thing. But let's just you don't know what's going to happen between now and June 1. So wait, I mean, maybe something happens at the draft that is favorable to you. And there's someone all of a sudden up some offer. You have no idea. So until they can get what they want, there's no need for them to until there's a need for them to lower the price. They don't have to lower the price. But I think the Patriots feel like they're in the best position. All right, back to Carl Serra's promise. Sully and Charlestown, go ahead and sell it. So, Mike, listen, real quick, I'm no one, AJ Brown. And here's why, even you talk through you guys towards the end of last season, we're talking about did you want them on the team? Everyone said no. So secondarily to that, I want to trade Christian Gonzalez. Let me put the scenario out there before you guys take a dump on it. At least talk about it. Right. So I want to move Christian Gonzalez. And our number one pick this year, we match up perfectly with the Minnesota Vikings. Because Justin Jefferson is playing with something called Max Brazmer, the Corpse of Carson Wentz and JJ McCarthy. All three of those guys suck. And this guy's not going to probably want to be there. We move Gonzalez and out one over there. We get Justin Jefferson. We pair him with Drake May. So here's our combo for five years. Hold on, hold on, Mike, real quick, real quick. Let me explain why. Just be quick. When, OK, when Brian Floor has had an elite cornerback, he won defensive player of the year. OK. Minnesota should be working on. Sully, I can't let you go any farther. Have you looked at the contract? Who cares? Who cares? He doesn't care. Who cares? The Patriots certainly do. I don't blame them. I mean, I don't know why Minnesota is getting ready to run to Justin Jefferson just because their quarterback blows. He didn't mention Kyler Murray, who I know is underachieve. But now that's going to be their starter. It's all the more reason for them to keep Justin Jefferson. Right. They have a sketchy quarterback play. They need to keep Justin Jefferson. Meanwhile, he's the face of the franchise. And they just whatever in the last year or two, made him the highest paid player in the history of the position. You're not going to give up two or three first round picks, pay him that contract, and then pay Drake May the highest paid quarterback contract in the history of football. Come on, Sully, they're not going to do that. Would Justin Jefferson look great next to Drake May? Of course. Like, you don't need to talk about that. We get that part of it. Think about it. They're not going to spend that money. Please. Have you just started following this? Just give me a minute, Mike. How about John and Charlestown? Go ahead, John, on the socks. Celgy, I was going to talk about the epic dumbness that John Henry but Mass stole my thunder. Can I talk about the epic cheapness of Robert Kraft? Yeah, sure. Thank you. They keep talking about wanting to draft and develop as they go, and everyone agrees, OK? So what's the point of drafting and developing if, like, you get lucky and you hit one, like Gonzalez? And when you don't even sign him to his first one and everyone wants the cheap, oh, no, trade this guy. Are you kidding me? Gonzalez is like not quite a Reavis, but he's a top five guy. Why draft and develop? So yeah, you've got a coach and you've got a QB, but you're still stuck with a cheap owner that doesn't seem to have learned anything about how lucky you got with Tom Brady and wants to build statues and jingle bells instead of paying real players. Well, I agree that their philosophy shouldn't, their philosophy, not what it should be, but what it really is, is yes, we want to draft and develop. No, what it really is, is we want to draft and develop. We want to draft and develop just not someone too good at too expensive a position. That, I think, really more aptly sort of encapsulates it. See, I think there's a slight variation of that, which is we want to draft and develop. And then when we get Christian Gonzalez and he gets a year three, we want to draft and develop the next guy, so we don't have to pay him. Maybe that's it. Same idea. Yeah. But you know what? What does crack me up though is this idea that, well, you've got to keep drafting and developing well. Like this is some sort of revolutionary concept. Yes, yes, that's right. You have to keep producing players. You've got to keep it on the draft. But you do have to pay some of them. Some of them you have to pay. So like it is maddening if you're a fan. I get it. So every time you get a good player in the draft, you're going to let them go because as long as you get the quarterback, you're OK. That's annoying. Are they drafting and developing because that's a way to win championships or is it the way to keep cost down? Second thing. Ed in Rhode Island, go ahead, Ed. Hi, good afternoon, gentlemen. Listen, I'm trying to look at this Red Sox season realistically at this point. They're going into the fifth game of the season. So we're going to see the first starts of the rotation, five-man rotation. And so far, we've had two really good pitch games and then two duds. Now, this game tonight with Bellow, I don't know what he is capable of. But we'll see what he does. And I want to ask Matt as a quick question. How many wins in the five-man rotation would you anticipate in order to put them to get on the playoffs? Is that the way you look at it in the first place, but either way? No. Now, I look at it more as starts made because usually, if everybody makes their turns, your pitch will go and you're healthy. And if that happens, Kurt Schilling said this years ago and he was right. Whichever team they get the most starts out of their rotation coming out of camp usually ends up winning. And he's right. And I think it's for that very reason. One, it means you're pitching well enough to stay in there. And two, it means you're healthy to keep making your turns. So I would say that if all these guys stay in there, they should be fine. I don't look at it just as rotation wins. But what's your bullpen going to win? 25, 30 games somewhere in that area? So you've got to get 60. I mean, you've got to get 65 wins out of your rotation if that's what you're asking. Dennis and Rockland with the Red Sox thought. Hi, Dennis. Michael, how are you doing? Good day. Is somebody who was on that Tiger Woods Goon juice for a couple of weeks after back surgery? My wife knew she was driving my bony ass everywhere. But I wanted to talk. We've all been talking about Roman Anthony and what we expect and the pressure that's on him. And now I'm thinking, jeez, this kid, Stubby Malone, shows up for third base. Caleb Durbin. And they're going to him. You're following two world champions, kid. Don't screw it up. So here he is. And I imagine he probably stinks. But he's got a lot of pressure on him. 100% and just the wrong guy for it because he's just not that good. And that's more prezlose fault than anything else. It is. Durbin is who he is. Durbin is who he is. And his skill set is his skill set. And not only are you replacing Devers and Bregman, but the Red Sox gave up a good young pitcher for you. You are coming over as finishing third in the rookie of the year. And the fact is that year was kind of fool's gold to begin with because you were never a highly touted prospect. You didn't even make the Brewers out of camp last year. So you were never looked at as that kind of player. Everything fell together. And you had a good year and were recognized for it. And now because of that, you get treated as this hot young prospect or this young player with ceiling and potential. And you get thrown in there day one and you're just not that good. And oh, by the way, you come from division three baseball. Was he even drafted? I can't remember. Again, I think I gave you his um. He must have been drafted. He must have been. Must have been? OK, maybe not. So he played baseball at Washington University in St. Louis. Was that a baseball? No. What do you want? Crack? No. That's like that's like a smart guy school, right? It's not in anything schools, as far as I'm concerned. But yes, it's a smarter kid school. 14th round. Who picked him? He was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 14th round, which in baseball isn't not that low of a pick, right? I mean, it's not. Well, it's not that high of a pick. No, but it's not like he was undrafted. 14th round. Wow. But anyway, I think his major league debut was when he came up for the Brewers last year. I think I don't think he played a major league game. I don't know if you have it in front of you. It was his major league debut last year. Yes. So, you know, he was 25 when he came up last year. He had never played in the major leagues. He didn't make the team out of camp. He was a low pick who had been traded around from the Braves to the Yankees and then the Brewers. The Brewers called him up, gave him a shot. He stuck, overachieved, and the Brewers pumped and dumped him. And now he's here and he's the everyday third baseman right out of the chute. And he's kind of limited. And he'd never been in this sort of spot before. Like, played in Milwaukee. He's a cakewalk compared to this. He's the wrong guy for this spot. I'm telling you, he does not have what I would call like good big league ability. I feel like I'm picking on the kid. It's not his fault. He's a borderline major league talent. And when I say talent, I use that word loosely. He's a borderline major league player. If he plays three years in the majors, he'll hit 240. We continue. He's lucky. We continue with your thoughts on the Red Sox. We continue with your thoughts on the Patriots. And the Patriots' owner, all but admitting yesterday, the thing you were fighting all season long, the Patriots' owner disagrees with you. I'll tell you what that is after Murray gets you updated here. 90 seconds, no commercials.