LIVE: Trent Williams Hold Out Update & Slayton Defends Daniel Jones | Chip Shot Football Podcast

[Music] [Music] how's it going everybody welcome back to the gsmc Chip Shot football podcast brought to you by the gsmc sports network I'm your host Manny Mara die today is Tuesday August 27th another round of some pretty interesting NFL stories that I wanted to go through on today's show a lot of current situations with holdouts and also just having some discussions as well we're going to start off with Trent Williams a one of those hold out um players still holding out with less than two weeks ago in the season we're going to discuss why he's holding out and how it could all play out in the next 13 days and also another segment I have on store is Darius Slayton coming to the defense of his quarterback Daniel Jones what did he say about the negative comments around Jones and also in the meantime calling out some other quarterbacks in regards to Daniel Jones and also not receiving the same amount of criticism so those were pretty interesting we have also some more topics down the line that we will get to on today's show but before I get started as i' like to remind you guys I have a great opportunity for you guys basically if you guys have any questions comments or any opinions you'd like to share I always want to hear it and now there's an easier way of going about that if you just go ahead and use the Super Chat feature at the bottom of the screen just click the dollar sign at the bottom of the chat box to send in your super chat this makes it absolutely sure that I can see your question comment or opinion and share it on today's show it's also a great way to keep the show more interactive more exciting and it's just a fantastic way to keep supporting our Channel we rely on your support to keep bringing you the sports content you love and we appreciate every bit of it so go ahead let us know what you're thinking hit the Super Chat button and let's keep this show as interactive as possible but if you do prefer the old method you're still able to use the tibon donations link gsmc podcast. net to tip donate and leave a comment or question there if you still prefer that way but we couldn't do what we're doing with this show and this channel without your guys and we are always so thankful that you guys are able to join in and be part of our community with whatever question comment or opinion you'd like to share so go ahead and use that Super Chat feature with that dollar sign at the bottom of the chat box but with that now out of the way we could start on the first topic right yesterday we got one hold out out of the way that being cidd lamb now he is expected to return to the Dallas Cowboys but there is still another one not so flashy and so um just eye popping right just compared to the other situations because you have Brandon auk you have Jamar chase you had CD lamb you have Dak Prescott I feel like not a lot of people are talking about Trent Williams and like I mentioned before there's 13 days until the San Francisco 49ers host the New York Jets in the opening Monday Night Football game on September the 9th and still obviously there's no answer yet on brandan auk um I've just come to just be okay with that it seems like before I was very anxious to see oh is this going to be the day is this going to be the day but now it's just like you know whatever it seems like it seems like he's gonna stay or if he doesn't it it's lost a little bit of steam with me um but Tren Williams is one that I am interested in a lot with the 49ers just because it's it has almost shifted from the Dallas Cowboys in a way where you don't know what they're going to decide on if that makes sense you know they had cidi lamb and Dak Prescott you know both of those options just sitting in front of them who was going to take the first step in extending one of their players and the Cowboys already got that out of the way and now similarly with the 49ers it seems they have two of their most important players now just sitting there when we're all waiting to see what's going to be the final decision and what the first step is going to be to getting at least one of those guys back participating with so little time left before the regular season but like I mentioned auk has sort of lost some steam I don't think anybody really knows what's going on but with Trent Williams it's a little bit more concrete because he is holding out he not there and he's not interacting with anybody he is going the traditional route of holding out but on top of that um he has not been there obviously all of the offseason voluntary training camp or whatever but you know recent reports according to ESPN suggests that Trent Williams is not afraid to hold out during the regular season and it seems like that could be the case with so little time left heading towards the regular season now any can really happen in the next hour while I'm doing the show or over the next few days but today was the deadline for the final 53 man roster you know deadline the all these NFL teams had to meet the deadline today by 4 p.m. eastern time and get their rosters down but it makes it a little bit trickier right when you have one wide receiver that is sort of there but is still not practicing and also you have another offensive lineman that is just not around the team and you have to try and calculate and predict when and if he comes back are you going to need to roster another offensive lineman just in case or anything like that it makes it a lot tougher right and that on top of the fact that now Williams is not afraid to hold out into the regular season becomes a little bit of a concern a little bit like CD lamb but obviously the Cowboys don't have to worry about that now and more on these reports you know according to uh Jeremy Fowler from ESPN he said just briefly on this Trent Williams holdout situation he said he is not going to be available until he gets his contract adjusted he's trying to stay away from the team and is not overly stressed to have to be out there right now and it's not like his contract is W is waning down right now Trent is still signed with the 49ers through 2026 that's not really the issue here because Trent Williams received a six-year $130 million deal in uh in 2021 with the with the San fr Isco 49ers and he's on a pretty decent salary you know not near the top as much anymore but you know $23 million per year as a salary with this massive deal is still very well for offensive lineman in the NFL but the issue is that with the contract and the remaining years on that contract as well the 49ers could technically exit from his contract after this upcoming 2024 season because his 20 his 22 million and $32 million salaries for the 2025 and 2026 year respectively each of those salaries for each of those years are not guaranteed anymore so the last bit of guaranteed money he is going to get from this contract is this year and then after it it's just pretty much up in the air and there's no guarantee that he will be getting that money for the remain remaining two years of that deal and it's sort of like the Matthew Stafford situation because he still had a year or two left on his current deal but being a veteran player a quarterback especially and how much value there is there he wanted to restructure his deal obviously right get more guarantees because of all those reasons that I just mentioned and it's similar with Trent Williams now although he's not a quarterback obviously he doesn't get the headlines that a wide receiver or Christian mcaffrey getss not even George KD most of the time but a left tackle an offensive lineman you've seen how all these offensive lineman just this year this off season have gotten paid you know Tristan wors Christian darol pen Su they're all making close to 30 or maybe even more than that um the exact amount is escaping me but you know they're up there getting paid a pretty decent amount for offensive linemen especially at that tackle position so there's a lot of value there and I always say it you know with offensive linemen you never mention Trent Williams's name ever in a game and for good reason right that's exactly what you want to happen with offensive linemen because they're doing their job the opposing team's pass rushers not getting anywhere near the quarterback so it's going pretty easy pretty smooth and Trent Williams unless he's knocking somebody out with a killer block or something like that or getting out in space again you're not mentioning his name and I don't know the last time he's given up a sack in any of the last few years so that's a great thing a great security blanket to have with Brock py you know all the uncertainty that came with him coming out of college knowing that you had just an anchor over there at left tackle goes without saying is definitely needed and a big reason why the 49ers offense is as special as it is because in every position it seems like they have some of the best players in the NFL and that goes the same way with Trent Williams so I don't know exactly how old he is I want to say he's around 32 years old if my memory serves me right but you know getting those guaranteed towards the end the latter portion of that contract is what he's after right now and it seems like he has no problem holding out into the regular season and I fully believe him it seems like Trent Williams isn't the kind of guy that jokes around like that in terms of his money and getting the the compensation that I'm sure he definitely feels he deserves so um that's pretty much the update on Williams from Williams's part you know Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch haven't provided anybody or any anybody in the media with any updates regarding Williams or even Brandon auk as well so um we are starting to ramp it up a little bit in terms of getting back into football mode you know I feel like the deadline for the 53 man roster maybe a day or two after it once you know you get to Thursday or Friday I think you really start getting into that work week mode right if that makes sense because in just a few days just less than a week now you're going to be in full practice mode getting ready for the actual games to begin and not just any team coming into uh Levi Stadium you have the New York Jets coming in with Rogers Wilson uh Bree Hall and all the talent that they're bringing in a great defense as well um you're going to need Trent Williams out there for sure and now if you kind of have to decide between auk and Williams on who you try to make the priority I would go with Williams up until this point just because with auk it seems like he could be traded you know you guys have put your best foot forward to try and extend him but even still there are still some difficulties with that with Williams I think if you just meet his requirements he'll show up the next day and as a veteran he might not need as many days to get ready anyway when you're talking about a work week a practice week or whatnot so that to me would be the priority right now and I guess it's a good thing that Hassan reck's probably not going to play for the Jets or else this would have been a bigger problem but regardless of that the Jets defense is still very good one of the best defenses in the NFL last year so having Trent Williams out there uh I don't even know who the backup is going to be but it's a world of difference when you have the allpro multi multi-time pro bowler out there surfire Hall of Famer guarding your blind side of your quarterback than um than somebody else doing it so the 49ers should get that done this week is probably the most crucial time to do it before you get into a full practice week but we'll see what they do with that and how it affects Brandon auk as well so we're going to leave that topic there and we're going to head to our first break of the show but when we return we're going to touch some more on the New York Giants a lot of negativity heading towards Daniel Jones but his wide receiver Darius slan has come to his defense and not only defending him but sort of calling out other quarterbacks around the NFL and why they also don't get the same amount of heat that Daniel Jones does while producing the same story of stats as he does if that makes sense so we're going to get into that topic plus much more later on in the show but for right now we're going to head to a quick break you're listening to the gsmc Chip Shot football podcast I feel like I'm losing my mind everybody in the world blind please Lord give me a aide I feel like I'm losing my mind everybody in the world please Lord give me [Music] a I want to be the greatest everybody on the fake I look around I feel like everybody is the fakest I make this every day and I'm impatient hoping one day I blow up from the basement stat the top is so vacing I don't need that I think is amazing waiting for my day when I'm playing sold out shows for A Thousand Faces hey give me that Crown getting my way and to be put down it inin your place all this my if I want that then I'll get it right now I'm losing it the no if fit I'm Los your a stupid me you choose to live or choose to dip you choose to fight I lose your grip and lose a gift off I feel like I'm mybody in the world please Lord Give Me A Sign a [Music] sign I feel like I'm losing my mind everybody in the world back here on the show and we're getting more into the New York Giants in today's segment in the second segment of today's show just because I thought this was pretty interesting and uh a pretty unique situation with Darius Slayton in regards to his quarterback Daniel Jones and I'll explain more on that after I give a bit of context with you guys on the situation right if you haven't been keeping up with the preseason uh the first start for Daniel Jones in 2024 in preseason didn't go so great obviously he threw a couple interceptions he threw that pick six on a very bad decision that he made throwing it across his body sort of going to the ground and just throwing a gimme to the Houston Texans safety jayen Petri but regardless of that you know you can sort of cut him some slack just because he has been coming back from that ACL injury and that was his full you know game like environment that he was coming back to but you can't cut him too much obviously because Daniel Jones this is sort of starting to become a habit a bad one obviously with the decision- making that he has you know it's not so much putting it in bad spots or anything like that it's just seeing that the throw is pretty much dead but you're still going to throw it anyway and not to mention you have a defensive lineman dragging you down from your other side you're still going to throw it it's those sort of things that um get this level of criticism right he got killed that whole next few days on whether or not the giants made a mistake keeping him and you know all that sort of stuff came back up again right and then what was kind of funny was that the Jets and the Giants had a joint practice the next few days and the Jets just completely dominating the Giants on both sides of the ball I'm sure you guys saw some of the clips Garrett Wilson having a great practice Aaron roders as well the defense as well you know having success against the Giants offense and they asked s Garner on one of these practices one of the media availabilities after one of the practices and they simply just asked them um about Daniel Jones and you know he sort of stuttered had a couple just pauses in what he was going to say really thinking about not getting himself in trouble and all he said was that Daniel Jones was a good quarterback and you know that kind of picked up some steam and everybody ran with the joke obviously knowing that he didn't want to say anything that would get him in trouble which was pretty funny the way he handled handled it but now with that carrying on over the next few days it got to Darius layan and he sort of gave his opinion on all the people poking fun of Daniel Jones and this negative narrative around Daniel Jones recently and his thoughts on it basically he one of the first things he said one of the first statements that he made was that um it's easy it's easy to say negative things once there's a negative narrative around a person but it doesn't always make it well in this case it doesn't make it true nor does he s Garder see him on a day in day out basis and that was one of the opening things he said and it is true obviously um as your as the wide receiver to Daniel Jones you're not going to go out there and also bash him you're going to come to the defense of your quarterback and he is right you know sauce isn't with him day in and day out for him and for other people to just just jump on this sort of running joke with Daniel Jones and just poke fun at the fact that some people might not just think he's very good and while that might be some people's opinion you know having this statement Now by Darius lean and saying that it's easier to jump on a person like that and just join in on the joke and just think that that's correct yes and no I kind of see what he's saying but um it's always going to be harder especially when you're an athlete a quarterback even and people are running with this joke it's always going to be hard to come to the defense of somebody especially like like Daniel Jones and I don't mean that in any sort of negative way but it is just based on the context of that player right because if you think of another quarterback that has a very diverse opinion around him in the media or around the NFL you look at a guy like like Josh Allen or something like that right you have a lot of people saying that he is a top two top three quarterback I personally think that he is is one of the top guys but then you have other people again peers or media members saying that it he just doesn't do it for them he throws too many turnovers and that he could be overrated to some people and it's easier in that sense to come to the defense of Josh Allen because he has done extraordinary things on the football field he wins games for his teams but with Daniel Jones the context matters in a way where it's harder to come to the defense of Daniel Jones if you're a fan if you're a media member because he makes it so hard for anybody to come to his defense and that has to do a lot with it and everybody running with this with this negative narrative it's hard to defend Daniel Jones when he doesn't really give you too much to defend him with right if that makes sense so I kind of see what he was saying there you know Darius leay he's not going to bash his own quarterback but um there is some more background checks or more uh information you have to really dig into to to kind of understand um this whole situation with Daniel Jones and not only that but he didn't stop there you know Darius leay went in a little bit more on why the Giants maybe Daniel Jones as being the quarterback of the Giants in such a major Market gets more criticism than some other guys and he had no problem just name dropping a bunch of them um in this statement he said uh I think because we play in Prime Time a lot where media covered a lot where the Giants if we were the Jags like you don't hear anybody say anything about Trevor Lawrence or Justin Herbert for that matter matter of fact if you ask most people about Justin Herbert they'd probably tell you that he's a top five quarterback but under what logic and he says that people just usually gravitate towards the size the Big Arm of some of these quarterbacks and you know it doesn't people don't really take into account the processing part of it all and you know you don't really see receivers or anybody one coming to the defense of their quarterback that's typical but to name drop you know Trevor Lawrence Justin Herbert and say like in a way alluding to the fact that they don't deserve almost to be held to a higher standard than Daniel Jones um because one they play in a lesser Market in Jacksonville and in Los Angeles the market around the Chargers especially but um just based on playing and the production it's hard to agree with Darius Lane a little bit um because I've brought it up on here before right we've talked about Trevor Lawrence and some of the skepticism that I have with him not so much that I would hold him to the same regard as Daniel Jones I think that's where Darius layan loses me a little bit but in terms of we've talked about it you know getting that $55 million contract yes it's the market and it is how the market you know controls a lot of these contract extensions that happened but I was still a little president just because you look at what Trevor's done and you look at who's making that type of money to me the only one that has deserved that sort of contract is Joe burrow he's gone out there beaten Patrick Mahomes gone to a Super Bowl just been a Serial winner throughout his time in the NFL whereas Trevor Lawrence you know bad year with Urban Meyer came back got better especially under Doug Peterson but still they had that debacle a year or two ago where I think it was just last year actually where they just collapsed towards the end of the year missed the playoffs and Trevor much like the rest of the offense you know it's not just on him but didn't play very well and once you do get into the playoffs that one year that they did make it you know they had that great comeback funny enough against Justin Herbert so that doesn't paint him in any better of a light than it does with a guy like Daniel Jones um he had that playoff comeback you know then he ended up losing to the Chiefs I want to say so a very limited amount of success to really think that you know Trevor or Justin are Miles Ahead of Daniel Jones where you look at some of the uh some of the comparisons just between all three of those guys specifically you look at Justin Herbert 0 And1 in the playoffs Daniel Jones is one in one in the playoffs the same thing as Trevor Lawrence and one of the things that um I saw circulating a lot over this time with Daniel Jones and everybody talking about whether or not the giants made a mistake in keeping him was that through his first 48 starts all those stats you know the touchdowns the completion percentage the interceptions and uh things like that were very similar to The First 48 career starts that Trevor Lawrence had in terms of their stats and how they compared through their first 48 to 50 games or so Trevor and Daniel Jones were very similar in a lot of those statistics and like to Darius San's Point not a lot of people would compare Trevor Lawrence to Daniel Jones where through most of their career or at least the earlier portion of it they haven't been too distant in terms of what they've produced out there on the field but it could be the market I'm sure that has a lot to do with it um you know in New York there's a lot more Spotlight there's a lot more just news and people talking about you each and every day and it is harder I I truly believe it is harder to play in some of these markets like Los Angeles New York Chicago or anything like that Dallas I guess like in uh in football but um I think that can only go so B so far really in terms of using it as a uh as a reason as to why Daniel Jones just gets more criticism and yes maybe Jacksonville Los Angeles with the Chargers isn't in the same boat but really what I just came to a final decision on was that um with Trevor and with Justin you know their highs even though they do have some pretty bad moments throughout their career care maybe they haven't taken that next step but the moments of Brilliance their highs more so than not are uh are a lot higher and a lot more beneficial than that of Daniel Jones right in the grand scheme of things yes it might be a little bit similar when you're talking about playoff record and alltime stats and things like that you know um stats through their first four years it's similar to Daniel Jones but really they're just not showing the same level of highs like I said and also the same level of lows I think Daniel Jones's lows and his mishaps and just mistakes happen a lot more often than that of Trevor and Justin Herbert and not only that Justin and Trevor sort of offset it with having some pretty great performances you know having game-winning drives being the reasons why their team wins and just showing a lot more good than a lot of their bads right but with Daniel Jones you don't really get that same compensation because it's hard um with not just him but obviously the makeup of the team and the lack of offensive line protection and things like that that all goes into it but just him he doesn't produce enough points touchdowns or just ability on a week- to week basis to kind of offset all those negative that you see like the fumbles the interceptions not being reliable potentially not or dealing with injuries or whatnot things like that so um and even also just lastly with Trevor and justtin and they've slowly gotten better I think you've seen them mature a little bit more gain a little bit more confidence learn on the go at a lot faster Pace whereas with Daniel Jones you thought you were seeing that progression you thought you were seeing that next step when they made it to the playoffs but then they had The Following season and they just plummeted once again he was in and out of the lineup getting hurt and you know it just didn't play well enough compared to 2022 so it's those sort of things that can't fluctuate when you're trying to comp compare yourself to these other quarterbacks because while they might have bad moments like you do it often offsets with the Great Performances they put on whereas with Daniel Jones that's the big part of it that's lacking and that's sort of where it is right now with Daniel yes the market is a big factor in relevancy and keeping you in the in the just regular cycle of news that goes on during the the day-to-day news cycle but it also has a lot to do with d and just thinking about it not just the grand scheme of things but the specifics what he brings to the table and how consistent he is the lack of consistency I should say is one of the big reasons that it is similar to Trevor and Justin but if you look a little bit harder you do see a lot of those differences and those that's why those guys are getting paid as they are and Daniel while he got his extension it's not talked about in the same light as those guys so that's pretty much all on D iously in some pretty interesting comments just because again you don't really see guys just flat out call other guys out and alluding to the fact that maybe they're not playing as good as many people think but um you know to each his own in his opinion that's how Darius Slay feels about it but we're going to move on to some more topics on today's show that I didn't mention before we're going to talk about the NFC East a little bit more talking about a question I thought of is it a bigger deal if the Washington commanders with all the hypee they've built up in the preseason is it a bigger deal if they finish second or is it a bigger deal if the Dallas Cowboys finished third and just completely miss the playoffs for the first time in a long time so we're going to get into that open discussion when we return you're listening to the gsmc Chip Shot football podcast looking for your daily fix of sports talk without having to pay for it gsmc Sports network is aail ailable on YouTube just search gsmc sports network get your fix of daily Sports talk shows on YouTube absolutely free NFL college football NBA MLB MMA UFC fantasy football and so much more gsmc Sports network has shows running all day long with new sports shows starting every 2 hours just like on your favorite Cable Sports channel except gsmc Sports network is absolutely free just search gsmc Sports Network on YouTu YouTube to catch one of your new favorite shows like the gsmc college football podcast Chip Shot football podcast hoops and heels women's sports podcast gsmc basketball podcast and so many more check it out for yourself gsmc Sports Network now available on YouTube absolutely free search gsmc Sports Network on YouTube right now welcome back to to the gsmc Chip Shot football podcast to Dive Right into our next segment more of just a question I thought of over the course of this week with how everything seemed to be playing out in a negative light for the Dallas Cowboys after again um they finally got that extension for CD lamb so it got a little bit better but I still wanted to pose the question just because I thought it was interesting on how it seems like both of these teams the commanders and the Cowboys were heading in two different directions but now the Cowboys have started to get things under under wraps a little bit with the news of CD lamb getting extended but just to give some more context on this situation on this question um talking about the NFC east and winning it doesn't seem to be a given at least for consecutive championships to happen at least in recent memory just because if you think back to the NFC the biggest thing one of the biggest things that pops out they always mention it each and every year right at the start that they're hasn't been a back-to-back champion in this division since 2004 20 years basically of their not being a back-to-back champion and actually if you go back to that year and even back to 20 or 2001 excuse me from 2001 to 2004 the Philadelphia Eagles actually won that division four times in a row but since then there hasn't been consecutive Champions uh obviously it looked like the Philadelphia Eagles funny enough were going to break that streak last year and you know win the first back-to-back Championship the division title for the first time again 20 years but obviously they plummeted they just broke down there at the end had a bunch of bad games a losing streak there and not only did they lose the division title but they crashed out of the playoffs because they had to travel to Tampa Bay and then at that point it's just like you're just not in the right mindset not in the right Groove you're quite honestly in the last place you want to be on a losing streak heading into the playoffs and that's how it all ended just right there in a moment um a hard-hitting reality for the Eagles at that time but Dallas ended up winning the division last year and now it looks like we're not going to get repeat champions again it looks like Philadelphia is in the perfect state right now with their defense getting better adding saquan Barkley obviously and uh not to mention J Dawson and whatnot they're two coordinators they're two new coordinators I should say coming in in Kell Moore and Vic fangio it looks like they're in the perfect position now to reclaim that title but with all that and with what Dallas was going through I had a pretty negative connotation towards the Cowboys just because it didn't look like it was going great up until that moment but now CD LM is going to be there it's obviously going to change a lot of things on that offense for Dak for Mike McCarthy to game plan and try to get cidi the ball as much as possible but when you look at this Division and while the Eagles might be the favorite I think even still with Dallas getting CD lamb back it might not be such a given that they are going to finish in second place so much so that you know the Washington commanders have really been making a name for themselves over just the course of this offseason it started back when they ended up hiring Dan Quinn not only bringing in a capable very well-renowned coach I think just based on the work he did in Dallas but you sort of made the opposition a little bit worse right in Dallas and taking away their defensive coordinator and while they still have great players you know Mike Zimmer came in there as well I feel like they had a better more personal connection with Dan Quinn and now taking him away I feel like that's going to affect them more so than a lot of people really believe at this point in time but also with Dan Quinn coming in you get a new general manager as well um I'm forgetting his name but he came over from the 49ers and also a new owner in Josh Harris also coming in for the commanders really trying to turn the page on everything that got that went on with the old commanders their previous owner Dan Snyder and things like that um just trying to forget all of that and now starting a new chapter with these three guys and also just continuing on that trend and in the off season I believe that they were one of the better teams to not only get better with a few players here or there but also just the mentality that they attacked the offseason with spoke a lot to me in how serious to sort of take the commanders in 2024 because they went out and improved a lot of different positions right because they brought in Austin Eckler Tyler Tyler bies from the Cowboys Nick aligi the uh offensive lineman for the Chiefs formerly he also they also brought in dorren Armstrong from the Cowboys yet again Cleland frell Dante Fowler Jr Bobby Wagner Jeremy chin all of those guys a few of them on offense and most of them on defense it really spoke a lot to me because those are all capable level starters and they're all probably going to start for the Washington commanders and it's a huge upgrade nonetheless especially on the defensive side of the ball and not only that um and about Jaden Daniels right it seems like they finally got the guy there and the guy meaning you know the guy since Robert Griffin III they haven't had a quarterback to bring that sort of excitement I believe and even though they had Kurt Cousins there and have had some success with him this is just a little bit of a different level right when you draft a guy and he looks so well prepared so Polished in the preseason and everybody Raves about him in practice and whatnot it's just a different level right when you have a guy like that knowing that you made a great decision in drafting potentially the next face of this organization for the next 9 to 10 years or something like that it's all about Jaden Daniels and while roster to roster position by position it might not be still comparable to say Philadelphia it's just a lot better than what the commanders were dealing with and now um you look at this comparison and you bring up this question you know which one would be more surprising you know knowing that what we know about both of these rosters you know the commanders and everything that I just laid out about them and the Cowboys you know cidd lamb is back what does it mean for Dak Prescott what's the running back situation going to be I know that uh Dalin cook flew into Dallas and met with the team yesterday so are they going to add him does that really change anything with that running back room and also the receivers outside of CD lamb is Brandon Cooks still willing to provide wide receiver three wide receiver two numbers sort of based on the year that he had last year and then after that it gets a little bit thin at that position and also on the defense you know they lost a few guys that joined the Washington commanders and and on top of that you're dealing with the loss of Don Bland for the first four to five weeks of the regular season so yes it is better that CD lamp came back obviously but you're still you're still dealing with a lot of potential hiccups and hurdles that could affect the Dallas Cowboys more so this year than I think in previous years while they haven't been perfect by any means or The rosters have seemed very good and very well put together they're always seemed to have something pop up towards the end of the year obviously with the playoffs and whatnot and now you can only imagine with there being roster questions what's that going to do to their record and are they just going to Plum it per se and that's where the question came up of which one would be more shocking you know the commanders just surprising everybody and finishing second or the Dallas Cowboys finishing third to the commanders and the Philadelphia Eagles and maybe missing the Playoffs all in all because of how competitive the NFC east or not the NFC well the NFC East definitely but the entire NFC Conference how competitive it has been it's not a guarantee that any third place team is just going to make it especially um um especially again just how competitive the NFC just is from top to bottom and you look at some of the other factors that I thought of when I came up with an answer you know you look at the commander schedule they have tied for the 16th toughest or 16th easiest technically uh schedule in the NFL because they're right there at the halfway mark and then you look at Dallas and they have tied for the 12th hardest schedule and you know not such a big difference there but with the expectations of the Dallas Cowboys and now it seems like there's a lot more noise around them than there has been in recent memory because I mentioned the contracts obviously with cidd and Dak but also their head coach is on the last year of his deal so how does that affect any long-term planning with him are you going to move on from him after this is he already in a lame duck situation where you can't really win a Super Bowl knowing that as a coach so with all those being a factor in this situation which one would be more shocking and while I wanted to give it I wanted to give it to the Washington commanders because that would be awesome I think having that quick of a success that quick of a turnaround with jayen Daniels I had to go with the Cowboys especially if they missed the playoffs just because nobody wants to hear those excuses obviously right nobody wants to hear um or feel sorry for the Cowboys for dealing with roster issues not being able to sign anybody in free agency or um not having enough cap space to sign cidi sign Dak before the regular season no one's trying to hear that because they've had their moments of having everybody under a contract and having great teams and they still fell short those expectations aren't really going to waver especially with how much the Cowboys are talked about in the media and how much everybody honestly just loves talking about them good or bad if you're praying on their downfall or if you're an actual fan they're always going to be in the spotlight and having them be a success or having them struggle still earns a lot of ratings everywhere so because of those expectations because everybody still probably thinks that they're going to finish second or even at least make the playoffs it would be more of a surprise to have them finish third especially to the commanders because that would be such a quick turnaround and even so their rosters aren't too different I know I just sort of bashed on the Cowboys roster but for the commanders to get everything together it would be very fortunate one to have everybody on the same page very quickly enough to be second in playoff content contention in the first year with a rookie quarterback that all is very hard to do and very unlikely but um you know the Cowboys just don't really have enough to convince me at this day and age and if you think about it historically they've been knocking at the door hanging around the rim for some time now the last time that the Cowboys fail to finish first or second in the NFC East was back in 2019 where they finished 8 and8 and you look at that season and how they finished eight8 and8 I think there is a good possibility that they're right around a 500 team with the kind of situation that they have going into 2024 and dealing with everything and they're not going to finish Finish First there's no way they finish first so if they finish second it's still I I think some people would even think that's a major disappointment so finishing third and still having a chance for the playoffs would be um just breaking news everywhere for them to be in that situation and then you know everything's going to be brought up again how Jerry Jones mishandled this entire situation how you can't expect to win with a quarterback on the last year of his deal a head coach on the last year of his deal all of that is going to Circle through national news every time that this is brought up so with that and so much attention on the Cowboys it has to be the Cowboys in this situation finishing third being more shocking than the commander finishing second and also just lastly on the commanders um again with every thing that they have to you know get together at the same time to have this amount of success they really have nothing to lose because nobody really thinks that they're going to do it right away and have it click instantly so the fact that they're playing with house money and the Cowboys still are trying to recover from how they crashed out of the playoffs last year it's almost a no-brainer at least for me in this scenario whether it would be more surprising that the Cowboys finished third or the commanders finished second I went with the Cowboys and for all those reasons that I mentioned so leave your guys' thoughts leave your guys' opinions comments on what I said on the question at hand where do you guys stand on this topic I'd love to hear your guys' opinions in this show or just in the comment section afterwards but we will put a pin in that and I'm sure we're going to revisit it later on but for right now we're going to head towards another break and when we return a start of a new series with the start of the regular season coming up we're going to predict the standings in each division for this upcoming year we're going to start off with the NFC North and go through each division for the next couple of days and then the last segment talking about Nick chub officially starting the regular season on on the pub list he will miss the first four weeks of that season what does that mean for the Cleveland Browns we're going to get into that in just a few seconds for the best and latest podcasts available anywhere go to the podcast app on your cell phone and type in gsmc to access free content-rich podcasts on health and wellness book reviews Sports entertainment relationships social media movies technology finance and even weird news subscribe and download the gsmc podcast Network's family of shows available everywhere podcasts are found back here on the show to jump right back into the action and this is a the start of a new series if you missed the last segment and if you weren't here before the break we're going to start with predicting the final division standings in each of the uh in each of the divisions in the NFL that says the NFC East I meant it to say the NFC North I was thinking ahead to tomorrow segment but regardless I have all the predictions for the NFC North in today's show we're going to go through them and why I believe they're going to finish the way that they do and we're going to go through each division as we go on towards the next 7 to8 Days leading up to the start of the regular season and also bringing coverage on previews and also giving some award predictions beginning of the season on MVPs offensive player of the year you guys know the drill all that sort of stuff is coming up but starting off with this you know trend of doing these predictions we're going to start off with the NFC North and predicting some of the final predictions in these divisions so starting off with the team I think is going to finish last in this Division I have the Minnesota Vikings the Minnesota Vikings will come in last unfortunately this year for the for the NFC North and I say unfortunately just because um you know the Vikings I really thought this year was going to be you know one of the better years for them because they drafted a quarterback they brought in a lot of you know talented players on both sides of the ball you know Dallas Turner drafting him Jonathan grenard in free agency signing Stefon Gilmore and adding guys like Blake Cashman and Alex Van GLE and all that sort of additions to the defensive side of the ball where it was one of their weaker points and on Stefon Gilmore specifically defensive back was the main position that was very much lacking but they bring him in a great addition but now it just seems like the injury to JJ and not just like he was going to ultimately start you know without question but um I think there was that bit of excitement there that like untapped potential there with JJ that he could come in change the course of how a season's going just because best case scenario that is what happens with rookie quarterbacks like a Patrick or a Justin Herbert coming in unexpectedly they change the course of some of these teams but unfortunately we're not going to be able to see it and now Sam darnold will be the starter and in all honesty I feel like Sam is gonna have to be better than last year in the quarterback situations they were dealing with with Josh DS Nick Mullins and I'm pretty sure there was somebody else in there but I feel like by default Sam is just going to be better there's no doubt to me that it is going to be a better quarterback situation especially after Kirk went down and having to cycle through a couple of quarterbacks last year and the fact that they were close to the playoffs says a lot about this team and the amount of talent that they have so Sam is going to be better but still when you compare him to all the other quarterbacks like Jared Goff uh Caleb Williams Jordan love he is probably the least talented or at least the least successful out of all those guys you don't talk about Sam darnold in the same way that you talk about Caleb Jared and Jordan love right um and Caleb even as a rookie quarterback there is just that different level of uh uh just Aura as people say nowadays right um Aura Talent there skill that Caleb and Jordan might bring and then you have Jared G who might not have that same arm Talent OR that same special ability but just off of last year in the turnaround he's had in Detroit I think having the one quarterback that stands out in a very much quarterback driven League now it does come back to bite you and I feel like that could be something that holds the Minnesota Vikings back and um they're going to be without TJ hackinson for the start of the Season at least the first four weeks which is obviously tough for them and they have a tough period right at the beginning where you might not have TJ hackinson from week two to week seven they play the 49ers the Texans the Packers the Jets the Lions and the Rams in that six to five week span so it could get off to a pretty rough start for them and I just feel like they don't have enough at the quarterback position to keep up with the rest of the division so to me they're going to finish last and then at the third spot I have the Chicago Bears I kind of want to wanted to put them higher but for the other two teams obviously remaining I just couldn't get myself to do it um especially because they're very young yes it's exciting yes you bring in Keenan Allen you have DJ Moore you draft romad dun and Caleb obviously being this generational type of qub back it's it's exciting but it still doesn't change the fact that this is still the beginning of hopefully a long journey with the Cowboys and trying to be a contender for the next whatever window Super Bowl window whatever you want to call it with Caleb Williams because I think he's going to be great he's going to do great things for the Bears he's not like anything that the Bears have ever had in their organization honestly but the fact that it is still the beginning of this journey doesn't change with um how good you set it up yeah it's going to help a lot in developing it but you can't skip steps in building a contending team not everybody can be the Houston Texans right um everybody wants to be and you think Caleb can be as talented as CJ strad but that's a high bar to live up to and uh the AFC South is just not as hard I believe as the NFC North so um at least last year it wasn't so with Caleb now coming in I feel like there's going to be those growing paints there's going to be those learning curves and I just feel like the Lions and the Packers are a little bit further ahead or a lot further ahead in being contenders than the Chicago Bears are at this moment and you know their defense is going to keep them in a lot of games they're very underrated they have a lot of good players they're very much in your face press coverage blitzing a lot of the times and um while I still wanted them to get another pass rusher opposite of Montes sweat that unit is definitely going to lead them and just with this offense they have one of the easiest schedules in the NFL but still I can't convince myself enough to think that they're going to jump right to second or right to first in the NFC north um just right away so it is a process they're going to have to go through it and you know if they finish third it doesn't mean they're not going to be in the playoffs if they have a decent record they're still it would still be considered a success but just in this Division I feel like they're just not there quite yet and then obviously the last two very hard to make a distinction between them but I am going with it I am putting my chips on the line for the Green Bay Packers and I'm going to get to them obviously after this but um the Detroit Lions very close with the Packers they obviously are the reigning divisional champions in the NFC North but I'm looking at this team and I loved how they addressed the defensive back position with terion Arnold uh Carlton Davis Andis rraw they did lose CJ Garner Johnson which is a pretty big blow because of what he brought turnover wise and just splash plays with him but you know they it still got better overall as a unit as a secondary they got better adding better Corners to this team getting younger on the offensive side of the ball you have a guy like Jameson Williams who everybody is wake is waiting to see him break out and it seems like this year could be the year just based off of the fact that there's a lot of positive news coming from practice you know just from some of the clips I've seen he looks like a lot more confident in himself and a lot more assured of how great he actually is because he had that gambling situation and then uh dealing with an ACL injury it was a very rough start to his NFL career but now that he's gotten everything in line it seems like he definitely has that talent to be the number two wide receiver on this team to obviously Alan Ross St Brown you have him jier Gibbs Sam lorta obviously David Montgomery doesn't get enough credit their offensive line is one of the best in the NFL but all that being said I I just think that this year with the Packers and more so has to do with the Packers just kind of wanting to shake things up a little bit um I feel like the Packers are going to take that next step in large part to Jordan lav and with the Lions the biggest thing with me is just their pass rush Aiden Hutchinson is a monster but more so you get more people obviously drawing the coverage to his side and I just need somebody else on that team one other guy to get double digit sacks or at least close to it because Aiden Hudson was the only one to get double digit sacks last year and the next highest one after that was at five sacks so that's just not going to do it at least for me to really be a division winner you know they're good they're going to be a great team but that's one thing in a critical position in how I would build a contending team that I can't just look over so to me the Lions will finish second going to have a good year but not as good as the Green Bay Packers I believe I'm fully buying in to the uh Jordan love sweet Stakes everybody I feel like early MVP votes early uh just award predictions kind of giving my hand away a little bit here but being in those MVP talks I think is a real serious thing and the way that this team is built up with the four wide receivers they really like are all I don't think any one of them really gets above really good wide receiver because you know you have Romeo dos and Jaylen Reed and some of those guys Christ Christian Watson they're all they all get to about a level of really good wide receiver but none of them I think are Elite top three top two wide receivers because um they're just not to the level yet of a Justin Jefferson or a Tyreek Hill right no one's talking about them like that but the fact that they have four of these guys that are average good or really good I think that's something that a lot of teams are going to have problems trying to game plan around you don't know who's going to get the ball and Jordan love does a great job in this scheme um paired up with Matt lefl that it is just hard to one game plan against the scheme but knowing that you have so many options for Jordan love to go go to is just a nightmare and also they added a guy like Josh Jacobs AJ Dylan is still there they really like this rookie running back Marshon Lloyd out of USC so you have a lot of options there to use to your disposal and last year you know basically it just all revolves around Jordan love he broke out in a major way in the playoffs there's a different level of you know talent and just Aura I keep going back to that word but really it is the best word that I can use with a guy that becomes a starter last year for the first time has a rough start you know they completely flip it around the second half of the year and he walks right into Dallas steps on that star and just completely takes the air out of everybody in that uh stadium and then he almost beats the and then he almost beats the 49ers as well so that's the sort of different level performances in the playoffs that distinguishes guys in the playoffs and in the biggest moments and I think Jordan love showed that he has that sort of attitude that sort of character with being the starting quarterback and I just feel like I am buying into this I'm buying into all the hype that I've been hearing about it just watching it as well last year I think the Packers have enough to win this Division and their defense also is very underrated a lot of the times they don't get the uh recognition as one of the sneakily good defenses in the NFL so with that being the case I think they have enough to get it done and they went toe-to-toe a lot of the times with the Lions and the 49ers last year so building off of that why can't they finish first you know but those are my predictions on the NFC North yet again apologies for saying NFC East in the title but it is the NFC North that's how I think it's going to all play out but leave your guys' thoughts on what you believe the standings will be at at the end of the year but with that being the case we have one more segment to talk about on today's show talking about Nick chub being on the pup list to start the year he will miss the first four weeks of the season so we're going to look at when he could come back and what the Browns have in store without having Nick chub in their lineup that is coming up in just a few seconds [Music] n [Music] [Music] a [Music] thank you for joining me back here on the gsmc Chip Shot football podcast just to quickly go over one of the last piece of news from this week it was announced by the Cleveland Browns that their star running back Nick chub will begin the year on the physically unable to perform list or the pup list for for sure for sure and that will mean that he will be forced to miss at least the first four weeks of the regular season and it's been almost a year since Nick chub has been on an NFL field you have to go back to last September in a week two game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Pittsburgh a night game I want to say Monday Night Football when I was watching it um just to paint the picture right um we're watching the game I'm washing the Browns March down the field they're on like the five yd line or something like that Nick chub is running it up the middle Minka Fitzpatrick meets him in the hole he goes low and Nick chub's knee just kind of gets jammed up it kind of hyperextends and you could just imagine how just gross it was in that moment seeing it um he didn't score then everything was paused obviously for a pretty bad injury luck luckily it wasn't so just gruesome because it did look bad when when it did happen the the kind of impact that Minka made with his knee and everything like that and how it just kind of got stuck in the grass and he was CED off and whatnot and then it was later revealed that uh he tore his MCL he had a partially torn ACL so he missed the remainder of that year obviously and now a year basically later he is still not really back yet as you would expect dealing with that sort of injury and uh he is going to be forced to miss the first first four weeks of the regular season which isn't ideal obviously but um it is what it is and I it is probably the best scenario right now for the uh the Cleveland Browns because you look at Nick chub a 28-year-old Nick chub still I believe not considered old for a running back I don't consider a running back old until he's like 30 or 31 at least but 28 and just based on what I've seen from Nick chub and I'll go more into that in just a second but um you know he has yet to practice with the Browns so far obviously so it was announced yesterday that he was going to be on the pup list and the earliest he can return from obviously those four weeks is on October the 6th when the Cleveland Browns visit the Washington commanders in week five but it could be a little bit longer you don't know how he is still going to recover from that knee injury what his level of preparedness will be by week four you hope that he comes back in week five but again that's just the minimum requirement it doesn't necessarily mean that they're projecting him to be ready by that time if that makes sense right that's just the rules that you have to follow with having a player start the year on the pup list so it could be longer um hopefully it isn't that much longer before we see Nick chub back on the field but um you know Cleveland will again have to depend on Jerome Ford a third-year running back you know last year there was this sort of panic mode around having not having Nick chub actually there for the majority of the season but then you have this guy Jerome Ford come in and it did take a little bit of time to get you know into the groove of everything but um from just a stats standpoint in 20123 he recorded over 1,000 yards from scrimmage and you know he did play pretty well overall um albeit not to the same level of Nick chub but being able to make the playoffs and not dropped such a massive amount of ability and talent and production you get from that position just because Jerome Ford did a very good job of stepping up and also this year uh in that running back room I'm sure they're going to rely on a guy like Pierre strong Pierre strong Jr Dante Foreman as well um are there in case Jerome Ford needs to step off for a player so I'm sure they're going to use all three of those guys Jerome Ford leading the way mostly so that's how the running back room is looking again not ideal you want to have Nick chub out there but I think they'll be just fine especially from what we saw last year and how they are just talented on the offensive side of the ball with en joku Amari Cooper Jerry Judy now there um their offensive line is great as well they definitely have enough to get by especially with that defense that's um very good obviously and you don't have to score a lot of points when they're playing like that so that's a great luxury to have but going more into the schedule now and looking at the games that uh Nick chub could potentially miss I went up all the week all the way up to week eight um because I think that's worst case scenario for Nick chub yeah he might not be ready for week five but I think by week eight you'd like to have him at least be considered to play be questionable or something like that so looking at the games that the Browns have up until that point in week eight in their schedule Nick chub is going to miss the first game of the season obviously in Cleveland when they host the Dallas Cowboys then in week two they play at the Jacksonville Jaguars then in week three they play the New York Giants at home then week four the uh the last game that he is supposed to miss they're at the Las Vegas Raiders and then like we mentioned in week five they do play the Washington commanders and that's where I'll go up until until now and you look at the games that he is supposed to miss in weeks 1 through 4 you look at the Dallas game that could go either way I might still give it to the uh the Cleveland Browns just because I not so sure about the Cowboys so playing in hostile environment right off the bat I think that could be a win for the the Browns and also week two the Jaguars are still a good team you know they started off the year hot last year at the beginning of it they were they were the number one team for a good amount of weeks to start the year last year in Jacksonville it's another one that could go either way honestly um the big thing with the Browns to me is Deshawn Watson and how well he is playing or how bad he's playing um for the Browns but I'd like to think this is a win for the Browns just cuz again I like their team a little bit better than the Jaguars so we're going to go with a win there um then the Giants it's going to be win in Cleveland that's enough of that then week four at the Las Vegas Raiders again it's another game where I feel like the Browns can win because the Raiders while it all while it is in Las Vegas they are at home you know Gardner muu what is that situation going to look like is their offense going to be running at a consistent uh level that is at least good enough to compete with the Cleveland Browns I'm not so sure about it I feel like that could be another win and then at Washington um could be a little bit tougher I think Washington could come out with that just because they can't start off 5-0 right off the bat yeah it's going to it could go either way but the commanders um I feel like they could get that one especially if Jaden Daniels plays to the level that we all expect him to that could be a win for the commanders and then you get into the next weeks where not only Nick chub could come back it is likely that he comes back but they're going to need him to come back just because in week six if he's not ready for the commanders week six they're at Philadelphia and that's a game that they could very well lose if they don't have the services of Nick chub with how good I think the the Eagles are going to be that could be a loss and then uh you host the Cincinnati Bengals after that and these division games are as much of a 5050 especially in the AFC North as you can have so hosting the Bengals and how close those games are that could be another loss as well for the Cleveland Browns and then in week eight if you still don't have Nick chub you host the Baltimore Ravens in week eight and having Derk Henry Lamar Jackson coming in there with that offense it's going to be a nightmare for anybody to play so you'd like to kind of counter that with having your own great running game as well with Nick chub so they're going to need him to come back especially for those games week six through eight are pretty tough for them in terms of who they're playing and just the level of offense you're going to need in those games especially with how good the other team's offense is but that is still down the line and hopefully Nick chub comes back by then I don't think it'll be longer than that I'll be shocked if it's longer than the first eight weeks um because then you start thinking it's a lot more serious than initially thought of but um just to kind of go over Nick chub you know the dominance that he brings a four-time pro bowler over 1,000 rushing yards in the last four seasons in a row from 2019 to 20122 obviously last year he got hurt 12 touchdowns rushing in 2022 which was also his best year of his career and rush for a career year as well in 2022 rushing over 1500 yards that's the kind of level that you are missing if you're the Cleveland Browns but fortunately for them those first couple of games um the Giants the Jaguars even the Cowboys aren't too terrible for them to miss out on a guy like Nate chub and you know we have seen him slowly get back into the gym some Reports say he has been on the field you know running some Sprints running around by himself and obviously it's still a long way to go from football shape but it is encouraging um for Nick chub to come back as soon as possible probably I would say by week six we should be seeing Nick chub back for the Cleveland Browns you don't want to rush him right but um there are some tough games in there that you want to have him back for obviously so you know Jerome Ford played better than most people thought they have a solid offensive line I think they're going to do just fine if anything the question is going to be Deshawn Watson because of just obviously not having Nick chub but if Deshawn's not playing at the level that you are paying him to play at um you're going to have even bigger problems on your hands than just when Nick chub's going to come back uh so that's pretty much it that's the update on Nick chub we won't see him for the first month of the season but hopefully for chub and the Browns he comes back rather quickly but that'll pretty much wrap it up on today's show thank you guys for hanging around for this last hour on the gsmc Chip Shot football podcast please remember to like follow And subscribe to the show as well as checking out the both YouTube channels gsmc podcast and the gsmc sports network channels on YouTube to couch more content around this show in a variety of different forms on both of those channels and also um please remember to follow the network on all forms of social media and to catch more live episodes check out both channels each weekday at 6:30 p.m. eastern time for more NL storylines discussions and covering everything there is to cover around football with me Mara Dia as your host thanking you for joining me and I hope to see you back here again with me [Music] tomorrow let's go I wake up to a little bit of Drool on my pillow feel like it's going to be a bad day yeah I'm tired of and the coffee ain't hit yet damn ain't that great nice