2029 Future NFL Predictions With Ben Solak!

22:21I can't believe we're all still okay with this, that he's always part of the Raiders and calls games for Fox. Every time I remember it happens, it blows my mind again. Anyway, maybe Bull British by 2029 will have decided to not let this happen. Whatever. So Brady, and like, you know, 100 % has significant influence over the Raiders' football decisions. They try to downplay it because they want him to continue helping to run the team while also calling games for Fox. But like his buddy, he hired his buddy to be the general manager. The quarterback made his draft and won overall, you know, whatever is like, you know, is his idol, so on and so forth.

22:55Chip Kelly said he talked to him once a week, I think. Yeah, right. Or at least once a week. Yeah, he's around all the time. The Falcons with Matt Ryan. The Falcons are like, man, we're bad at this. We're bad at figuring out how to put together a team. You know what would help? Matt Ryan. Let's get Matt Ryan off the CBS desk and let's just get Matt Ryan, in charge of president of all football and we'll be able to hire Ian Cunningham from the Bears. The Bears won't get any compensatory picks and Bears fans will go ballistic. Another hilarious, ridiculous thing that's been happening in just the machinations of NFL ownership.

23:22Anyway. Also, two search firms. So, I mean, two search firms hired and paid and what a coincidence. They landed on Matt Ryan, one of the best players and franchise history. Kevin Stefanski who's also a Philly guy with Matt Ryan. Yeah. Wow. Good job by those search firms. We're available, by the way. Aikman with the Dolphins. where the Dolphins were like, the Dolphins were like, man, just who do we hire? And Troy Aikman was like, well, in my experience, talking to coaches before games, here's the general manager from the Packers. Like, how much did he interact with John Eric Sullivan? And then they ended up hiring the head coach that worked with John Eric Sullivan.

23:57It's all a farce. It's all ridiculous. Drives me nuts. But you have just a lot more like, it feels very like college recruiter-y to me where it's like, look, our alums hang out with us. Come, you know, play for LSU. or should you have these ex-quarterbacks who are just getting involved with team ownership and team decision-making such that you got to imagine. You're Ursa Gordon and you are trying to figure out who's going to run the Colts here moving forward. I mean, your first phone call, if it's not Peyton Manning, it's Andrew Luck, right? I mean, like that's one and two is you call those two guys.

24:27Like obviously Luck's the GM of Stanford football. He's probably going to stay there. But you're just calling these guys to say like, hey, do you want to just have like complete and total control? I would not be surprised, obviously, if like Jim's philosophy on Jeff Saturday trickles down to his daughter where it's like, hey, it would be cool if the ex-players just were more involved and we trust them and Peyton was our heyday and let's get back to Peyton. So Manning steps in in 2027 as the new president of football operations made up title for the Colts and he hires I don't know, you know, some gentleman, Adam Gase's general manager.

24:59Just guys he knows, right? The Colts fill out the roster but then guess what happens? You know, the Colts' terrible season leads them having the fifth overall pick. They spend it on Lenora Sellers out of South Carolina. He ends up being a tremendous quarterback for them. It galvanizes the team. Meanwhile, in the AFC West, the Raiders are just chip, chip, chip in their way up the divisional rankings. The Chiefs start to fall apart more on that later. You know, the Broncos, Bo Nix never comes back to health. Chargers trade away, Justin Herbert, making my prediction from last year's episode correct.

25:28And the Raiders win the West. The Colts surge. They win the South. And we're just looking at the playoff bracket, realizing we might get another AFC championship game where like, you know, playoff battle between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Just this time in nice suits and nice shoes, walk in the field pregame with their little stooges and marionette lackeys on the field. You know, the 2.0 chess match now of just football minds. Our bodies have betrayed us, but we can still build teams to contend. A new era of Manning-Brady starts in the AFC. Okay, I like the boldness here quite a bit. The Colts aspect of it, it all comes down to, you know, do they draft a quarterback who's really good?

26:07Like you mentioned, they take Sellers or whoever else and all of a sudden it changes the fortunes of their franchise because they do have some talent there on the roster. So you could talk me into that. The Raiders aspect of this. I mean, this is you have faith. I know you like Mendoza, but you have faith that Tom Brady is going to be able to build out this bad boy in three years. You think they're going to be good in three years? Two years? I think I'm making bold predictions for 2029. There's a little, it has to be a little ounce of something in there. It's more, it may be more of a Mendoza bet than anything else.

26:40I feel like, yeah, like anytime team makes first overall pick at quarterback, you can at least put one egg in the basket of, you know, they may take a huge lead, right? Because Mendoza might be that caliber of a guy. I also think team makes higher off Shanahan McVay tree also deserves an egg in the basket, right? Like Kubiak now with what he did with the Saints and Derek Carr before like Carr got hurt and all those injuries ripped through the offensive line, that was in 2024. And then what he did with Darnold in 2025, Guy's clearly got gas. Like, he's got good, good, good offensive ideas. So, good offensive ideas coach plus first overall pick at quarterback there is like, all right, you might just become the sort of team that has the offense that can win you enough games even if everything else isn't perfect.

27:17And let's say Max Crosby continues to play 900 snaps and recommits himself to the Raiders. Like, you got yourself a star defensive player? Like, this is what a stew's made of. This is how you kind of build a contender out. So, I can see it. Okay. I like it. Raiders? Colts? Weirder things have happened. and I was looking at Chris Ballard's resume here. Nine seasons now, one playoff win with Chris Ballard as the GM. Five straight seasons of not making the playoffs. Seven straight seasons without a playoff. I don't need to do a Chris Ballard rant here. Enough NFL show listeners have heard enough Chris Ballard rants from me over the years.

27:51My stance is known. Your stance is known. I know we've said before, they're like, oh, this is a big season for him. It feels like now with the change in ownership that actually now a lot of pressure might be on him here in 2026, whether this works out with Daniel Jones or not, whether they're a playoff team or not, could very easily determine whether he returns there as their GM or whether they say, hey, Peyton Manning, come on down to Indianapolis. And so I guess what? Just as you had a Cardinals one, just as you had a Peyton Manning one, I have a Cardinals one. I have a Peyton Manning one. Oh my gosh.

28:28But they're combined. So my next one, 2029, here's the headline. Mike Tomlin, Arch Manning primed for leap in second year together with the Arizona Cardinals. I know what you're saying. How did we get here, Sheel? This is crazy. I know, everybody settled down. All right, 2026, there's this race for the number one pick. It becomes a huge storyline by Thanksgiving. Arch Manning's career, everyone clowned him at the first half of last year saying, I'll hype this guy up. He thinks he can't play. Well, now it's happening in 2026 for Arch Manning. He is the story in college football. He is the universal number one prospect.

29:10And now teams have to decide, like the Browns, the Cardinals, the Jets, the Dolphins. They're like, we're pretty much out of playoff contention. How far do we want to go with the tank here around Thanksgiving? And in the end, it ends up being the Arizona Cardinals. They are in a tough, tough, tough division with the hardest schedule in football. You know, look at that non-divisional schedule. It's insane. It's the hardest schedule in football by a mile. If you look at any metric that looks at like projected win totals or Super Bowl odds. I saw one. I can't remember who had it, so forgive me, but somebody had like, you know, like a strength of schedule projection.

29:47They were like, this is one of the hardest schedules of the last like eight years that a team has had is the Arizona Cardinal schedule. So it's crazy. Yeah, it's nuts. And they're going to battle, by the way. So like with, I don't know, is Jacoby Brissett still holding out? Sorry, it's me. I haven't been just... QB1 Jacoby Brissett is making his money. All right. And we got to respect the hustle, respect the grind. All right. Or Gardner Minshew. They got Mike LaFleur, who we'll see. But he did hire Nathaniel Hackett as his OC. So, you know, it just doesn't feel like a fair fight for the Arizona Cardinals.

30:18And it feels like a 2-15 season is probably what we're going to see here. And they're going to be able to secure the top pick. Okay, so that happens. And now the Manning family is looking at this going, hmm, do we want our golden boy Arch Manning to go play in Arizona? And there's conflicting reports all over the place. They got questions about ownership, but they also kind of like the idea of Arch going to a smaller market where he's not going to have a huge spotlight on him. He can learn, he can grow. So ultimately they decide, all right, we're fine with this. We're not going to put up a fight.

30:55Cardinals, you are allowed to select Arch Manning. Now, it doesn't come with a coaching change. So like you might think, all right, Arch Manning, bring someone in, start a new era. But you have to remember that Michael Bidwell is the owner of the Arizona Cardinals. And he said, wait, aren't we still paying Mike LaFleur? And we might still be paying Jonathan Gannon. And I don't know what other people are on my payroll. Let's just stick with LaFleur and give him a shot. And it's not going great. That's when the Mannings orchestrate a coup. Oh my gosh. Peyton Manning. 30 minutes into the podcast, we get orchestrated.

31:32Peyton Manning not only becomes the team's GM, but he says, wait, what's in this for me? I'm making a lot of money. Life's going well. I have all the quarter zips I want. I'm doing the Omaha productions. He says, I want an ownership stake in the franchise. They're really putting the screws to Bidwell. And ultimately Bidwell says, all right, I could think of worse ways than to align myself with Peyton Manning. So Peyton Manning is your new GM. He's got an ownership stake. And Mike Tomlin, meanwhile, he's been doing the NBC, whatever, studio show, whatever he's doing on TV. He's living a nice life, having a good time.

32:08But you know what? He always thought, if I'm ever going to go back in, I'm going to go back into a place that has a quarterback with a high ceiling. And Peyton Manning's calling me. And it's Arizona. Yeah, nice weather. It's going to be kind of a cushy lifestyle. They're paying me all this money. All right, I'll do it. So 2028, he becomes the coach. They go nine, eight. They missed the playoffs. Tomlin still doesn't have a losing record on his resume. Manning showed some flashes. And then in 2029, Solak, they become the it team. They had strung together some good drafts. And Arch Manning, who is now this, he is the new polarizing QB.

32:48You got the hipsters saying, look at this throw, tight window, look at the arm strength. You got the nerd saying his EPA sucks. You got the casual saying he's never even won a playoff game. Give me a break. He's the new guy everyone's arguing about. But the NFC West is there for the taking because Kyle Shanahan's out of San Francisco. More on that later. Sean McFay's trying to coach up Ty Simpson. It's not going great. Seahawks are a formidable team, but they're not a juggernaut. And the Cardinals have a real chance. So, 2029, we are talking about Peyton Manning, Arch Manning, Mike Tomlin, and the Arizona Cardinals.

33:25What do you think? I did have one that I left on the cutting room floor, which is a Rams trade backup quarterback tie Simpson to the Jets for fifth round pick or something. Just a nod at how poorly it all might go. Here's your number one issue. Besides the Manning coup thing. because the Mannings, I feel like, have done a really nice job of just kind of like letting Arch have like a regular process as regular as you can when you're coming from the family you are and you have the last name you do. So I don't think the family would be coup-oriented, right? Like in my Payton outcome where he's there with the Colts, Arch is presumably a starting NFL quarterback somewhere that's not there.

34:00You know, I think... I'm trying to decide if the Kapadias are coup-oriented or not. You got a little... In a few years. Probably, I think. When you've made as much money as Payton has and Arch has, then you get to not be coup-oriented. When you're a normie like that and you have the opportunity for a coup, you do a coup, right? You gotta do the coup. I didn't like nepotism until I had a daughter. And then the moment I had a daughter, I was like, nepotism? I gotta be making moves. We gotta start lining things up for those girls. Anyway, I think Tomlin would never, ever, ever, like to go from the Steelers, storied winning franchise, and with how much he likes AFC North Bowl and how much he likes the physicality of it and the playing outside and the snow and the weather and the toughness and the physicality.

34:39To go to Arizona, to go play in a dome in Glendale. It's just soft, and this is the most storied, lamest franchise. They never win anything. I think Tomlin would take one foot into Arizona football complexes, get a sense of the vibe, and be like, you got to paint the barn red, and then he would leave. It's not the right franchise for him in terms of the way they play football, the area in which they play football, the style of football they've been associated with and obviously the losing records. I do have a team that might not fit. It's not the Cardinals. This is where my experience comes in, Solak, because I can school you a little bit on this and what life's going to look like for you in maybe 15, 20 years.

35:24See, in your 20s, you're like, snow football, great. Oh, I'll live somewhere where there's seasons. I can't believe these soft people who like this warm weather. I want to put on that big jacket and gloves. Give it, this is fantastic. And then you get a little older. You think I'm putting on gloves? And a little older. And then you say, you know what? Southern California, you know, Arizona, Florida, maybe not the whole year, but December to, you know, February might not be the worst thing in the world to spend three months there. So your attitude changes a little bit. Not Tomlin. Tomlin might be getting a little soft here once he's in that cushy TV gig where now he goes there.

36:04He's like, this is great. There's not that many reporters covering the team. They're so happy to have me here after years of incompetence. I'm like the new Bruce Arians. Maybe he's rocking the Kangol hat like Bruce and he's just got the sunglasses on in the sideline and he's loving life. All right, so you're not seeing it, but the Cardinals, who do you think, if you had to say right now, where is Arch Manning playing next year? And do you think, how confident are you that he will be the prize at number one? Where are you with that whole conversation? Because that's going to be a big conversation by the time the 2026 season starts.

36:35There's probably already markets out for what team Arch ends up with. There definitely is in terms of, if you want to just look at record and stuff, I think it's the teams I mentioned where it's Browns, Sheds, Dolphins, and Cardinals are probably the big four there in that top two. I think because of the total weight of 2027 first-round picks acquired, I would say Jets, right? Because I think that in the event that a non-quarterback-needy team ends up first and that becomes a trade pick, they're probably the best trade packages, and then they also have a really good shot to be the worst team in football, just as the Cardinals might.

37:05And so Jets to me, Reese is the right team. I will say like, you know, Arch seems to me like he's an excellent prospect just from like cross watching, like watching college football and then watching prospects this year. It seems like a clear sort of guy would go one overall, but like it's the other, it's some of the, the more dudes like this is going to be like a, you know, 2021 draft, 2024 draft where there's like a lot of quarterbacks talking about in the first half of the first round. So even if you're not getting the Arch pick, like we're coming up on pretty good year. All right. There you go.

37:32Well, all right. So you said Mike Tomlin, Was this one of your storylines? Oh, okay. All right. Let's go to it. Chiefs head coach, reigning Super Bowl champion, and reigning coach of the year, Mike Tomlin. Quote, the standard is the standard. The 2026 season for the Kansas City Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes coming back from injury. We've got Kenneth Walker. We've retooled the second year we traded away, McDuffie. Jalen Watson got out of the building. We're about to like, we had this terrible year. We had the ninth overall pick. We're about to reignite and restart a new era of Chiefs football. I got to tell you, man, Andy's offense last few years has just been painful to watch.

38:11Just from a scheme perspective, it is tough. And this goes back to even the season where they lost to the Eagles badly in the Super Bowl and they were kind of eking their way through offensively that year and then going into 2025, or excuse me, 2024, when they were still winning all of those games, but it was with just super unexplosive offenses. They just live in a gun. they run the same RPOs over and over again it is just like very like Andy's cleverness is very much cordoned off to second and goal wing T formations and like on a base down perspective they're just running the same stuff they've been running from a home for the last five years and they're clearly trying to figure it out from a running game perspective with the investment in Kenneth Walker but like let's say it doesn't work and I think that's like a reasonable bet because they have like a good offensive line and you know I think Walker's a good running back but they have no blocking tight ends they have no blocking receivers because of the way they build this team.

39:03I think it's just hard to build a modern NFL running game if you're not asking your skill positions to get involved in the blocking attack. So let's say the running game doesn't work. And then let's say, and this feels like it's a reasonable thing to say, that losing three starters in the secondary between McDuffie, Watson, and Cook, like I know Spags is good, but there's a limit to how good a guy's goodness is. And, you know, Leo Chanel's out of the building. They still haven't figured out the pass rush. Chris Jones is like just kind of showing up for the big games and is increasingly fading down the stretch as things go on.

39:31Defense doesn't save them. Offense doesn't get much better. I think you're going to see Andy Reid frustrations. I think you're going to see Andy Reid's job get called for. Would be very surprised if they fire him after 2026, but I'm not going to say it's impossible. So then you're sitting there. You're the Kansas City Chiefs. You're Patrick Mahomes. You get to hire whoever you want. And Tomlin did his one year on the NBC desk. And you do, you know, it's week 14. You're probably going to keep Andy. Maybe you won't be. Put out the feelers, right? What does Sean McDermott think about you're going to get back?

39:59Like, what is, you know, what's the other coaches? Are we going to trade for Kevin O 'Connell? That's the thing we always talk about every single year for some freaking reason. You know, okay, like, you know, you're doing all like this. It's just the background work. Just, you know, the back channels. It doesn't, you know, get to the media. And you put out a feel to Mike Tomlin, and Tomlin is very clear. Like, listen, you bring me to Kansas City, right? Again, like, legacy of winning, cold weather, outdoor stadium, and I get to bring my caliber of toughness and winning close games of competitiveness to a roster that has a star quarterback but needs a jolt from what they've kind of the soft, spread style of football they've run, I'll come there and I'll win you a championship.

40:38So, Tomlin gets hired. 2027 season is the retool season, right? Cut some key players. Chris Jones gets traded away. Making new defensive coordinator hire because Spaggs doesn't want to come back without Andy. They're installing the new defense. They invest a little bit in the offensive line. They trade for Darnell Washington, right? They get their sixth offensive lineman to a J-pound tight end. And then the 2028 season, they just walk out and just shred. They shred with culture and with Mahomes' beauty. It looks like we thought it all would look forever when Mahomes first gone. They're never going to lose.

41:11They're 15-2. They waltz to the AFC playoffs. I don't know how this lines up with my Raiders-Colts AFC championship game. Don't worry about it. Anyway, they waltz to the AFC playoffs. They win a Super Bowl emphatically over like, you know, I don't know, the Anthony Richardson Lions or something. And then and Tomlin's coach of the year. And then we're back in the summer and the entirety of NFL media has descended on the training camp. You know, Mahomes again, the Chiefs are back. Tomlin's getting asked, you know, what does it mean? You finally won a championship outside of Pittsburgh and the Chiefs ring again.

41:39And you guys are looking at, you know, tying the Steelers or chasing the Steelers for the most rings ever in a franchise history. And you're setting record. Can Mahomes beat Brady for the most rings quarterback wins? And Mike Tomlin goes, standard is the standard. And we're just, we're back, baby. We're so back for the next two decades of Mike Tomlin, Patrick, problems and chief greatness. This is such a funny exercise because of the people we are landing on a lot of the same people. Yeah. So it just really narrows it down to who are like the main characters in the NFL for the next three years here.

42:13And certainly Tomlin's a good one. I may or may not have a chiefs one, uh, in a minute here, but I always think about with Tomlin, like I forget if it was when he gave that great interview for the pivot or whether it was somewhere else. But he actually surprised me when he said like, I take great pride. It's not getting the D players to be C players. It's not getting the C players to be B players. He's like, the most pride I take is when I see a great player who's like, and I know they're an A plus player and they haven't gotten there, but they've got that level of talent and I can coach them to be like one of the greats.

42:47Cause I always thought like, you know, coach talk, it's like, no, oh, it feels great to take the undrafted free agent and we made him like a special teams player. Man, we changed his life. He's like, no, I actually really take pride in coaching greatness. And for as long as he has not had that at the quarterback position in Pittsburgh, that would be very, even if he's loving the broadcasting life and he's like, all right, I put in my time. I think we're both on the same page that it would take a situation where he views greatness in a quarterback or a team or a roster or all of the above he has that selection now.

43:22Like he doesn't just have to go back. He doesn't have to. I love how you said it takes him seeing greatness. You also sent him to the Arizona Cardinals with a rookie quarterback. Well, if he sees, listen, if Arch Manning, you have to go back, remember? So like I was saying, Arch Manning looks like a great quarterback prospect in this made-up scenario that we have. And you'd already seen him in the NFL. But yes, Mahomes, obviously, if you get a chance to coach him at that stage of his career, that would be very, very interesting. Now, do we have an OC for Tomlin at this? Because, you know, that hasn't been necessarily the biggest trend.

43:53Do we know? The other name I considered for making the head coach of the Chiefs was Mike McDaniel. Like he does like two years for the Chargers. Absolutely strides with Herbert. And then the Chiefs hire him away to go making the head coach. So maybe somehow he gets Mike or somebody off of Mike's staff and runs the Mike McDaniel offense. Okay, so the other interesting angle of this is Andy Reid. What I was saying is that, all right, we both view Andy Reid as like, I don't know what the next couple of years are going to look like for Andy Reid. I feel like every podcast thing I've done for the last couple of weeks, Andy Reid's name has come up.

44:25We had Pat Daugherty on last week and we were doing like, if you were starting an expansion team, where would you have Andy Reid? And I was like, yeah, I don't know. And then I was on with Meena Kimes and it was just ranked the best coaches right now. And we had an Andy Reid discussion. I'm with you, Solak. We're aligned on this. I feel like he's losing the fastball or has lost the fastball. And I am very concerned that when he thought, I need to make a change this offseason and we got to get this offense going, that he just went back to Eric the enemy when he really could have done a big search and been like, let me find the next great offensive mind in the NFL who I can align with, who can bring in some new ideas.

45:05That's not what he did. He went with someone he's comfortable with and it almost feels like his instinct right now is to take more control. I can fix this. I'm the guy. And he's got the Hall of Fame resume. Maybe he can, but the last two years, only two teams in the NFL producing explosive plays at a lower rate than the Kansas City Chiefs. I mean, that is wild to say, considering who their quarterback is. And to your point, it's not just that. It's the combination of all of it, the run game, the scheme. And so how likely is it that you and I are going to be feeling foolish? You know, we'll see each other next year at the Super Bowl.

45:39And we're like, man, I hope no one really sees that podcast we did in May. If anybody ever complains about any take on this exact show, you're not allowed to listen to the podcast moving forward. All right, but how confident, how strongly do you feel that it's just not going to kind of get corrected here with Andy Reid in the next couple of years? What percent chance would you put it that Reid is the head coach in 2029, right? The start of the 2029 season? Like, he'll be 70. Yeah. And like, they're either bad, in which case I would say with some degree of confidence that they're going to look into moving on from him.

46:15Or they're really good, in which case they're probably winning a ring, in which case Andy's getting asked if he's retiring. Because at some point, you're 70. So I don't know. I would say the percent chance that he's the head coach in 2029 is like 42%. You give me that three-year sort of window. I don't think it's like, oh, one bad year and Andy Reid's gone, 2026 is happening. But to me, there's two outcomes, bad and good. And in both of them, there's a chance Andy's stepping down, stepping away, or being asked to step away. And so I think he's been at coach since 2013. It's been a long, long time.

46:48And it's very reasonable to expect by 2029 there'd be somebody else in the chair. All right, let's take one more break. We come back. And yes, the Kansas City Chiefs are making a coaching change, but it's actually not going to be. Want your kids to learn and play every Sunday for free? Plenty Kids is using sports and evidence-based wellness coaching to help kids build confidence, resilience, and the tools they need for life's challenges and opportunities. Every Sunday from April 12th to May 10th, we're running free sessions at the Boys and Girls Club New Rochelle for all children. Tap the banner or visit clinickids.com to learn more.

47:25That's clinic with a K. Clinic Kids is a registered 501c3 nonprofit. Some things work better together, like NARS' Soft Matte Complete Concealer and Radiant Creamy Concealer. Soft Matte Complete Concealer erases and blurs imperfections with full coverage. Then Radiant Creamy Concealer evens and brightens with a luxurious texture and radiant finish. Two concealers, one flawless look. Perfect for a no foundation base. NARS, better together. Visit Sephora to shop now. Mike Tomlin, I'll tell Solak who it's going to be when we come back. All right, we are back here on the Ringer NFL Show. We are sticking to Kansas City.

48:09Here's the storyline. So, Lec, 2029, Kyle Shanahan re-energized by second act in Kansas City. Gosh, we'd love to fire Kyle Shanahan. We've done it twice now. He will always make the show. I don't care what year it is. If he's been with the Niners for 30 years, we'll do the show. We're like, all right, but I think really... Where's Kyle going? Yeah, three years from now, he'll be somewhere else. All right, but here's what has happened in this situation. were aligned. Reed couldn't get back to the mountaintop. He and Patrick Mahomes, they tried their best. They had good teams. They made the playoffs, but they ultimately did not get back to the Super Bowl 26, 27, 28.

48:48He actually got three seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs. And then he said, you know what? I'm now 71 years old and I've had a great run. And you might want me to chase that all time wins record, but that's not really what I'm about. I've had a great record. I'm going to the Hall of Fame. I don't need to stick around anymore. Maybe he's getting nudged a little bit by the Chiefs at the same time, but they do one of those like an amicable, you know, both sides were aligned and they do the press conference. Yeah, it's never the case. That's what actually happened in Philadelphia when he got fired there.

49:19They tried to make it amicable and then he's like, no, it's not amicable. I don't want to do this. But Reid is out there, so he's had a great run. And how does Kyle Shanahan enter the picture? You're asking. Well, Shanahan was actually out of football in 2028. He had coached the Niners in 2026, 2027, but the roster got older. He lifted the floor. 49ers, though, they weren't really a Super Bowl contender. They were a solid team. He was still working his magic, but it just didn't come together. McCaffrey, Mike Evans, Kittle, Trent Williams, all their best players got older and it didn't work out for them.

49:56So after an 11-year run, And both sides decided it's time to move on. This actually was an amicable breakup with Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers. So he looked around, because he's not somebody who wants to not coach ball. I mean, this is Kyle Shanahan's identity, is coaching ball. But he looked around and he said, you know what? I don't see a great job here for me in 2028. So he takes the year off. He studies some offensive trends. He's talking to high school coaches, college coaches, coaches at the NFL level. He's jumping into some podcasts. The hipsters are loving it, man. He's just explaining some of the schematic stuff.

50:33It's not really the mainstream, like the casuals. It's not doing numbers, but you know what? The hipsters are loving Kyle Shanahan doing some of this analysis. And then he says, I'll get back in in 2029. So it's 2029, the Chiefs job opens up and he has a call with Andy Reid. And Andy Reid explains, Kyle, you remind me a lot of myself. Your stretch with the Niners, my stretch with the Eagles, We had a lot of success. We were widely acclaimed as great coaches. We never won the Super Bowl. I never hoisted the Lombardi. But you know what? Kansas City would be a great place for you to have a second act.

51:10And Shanahan looks around and says, I get a chance to get Patrick Mahomes in his age 34 season. He's had some injuries, but he's still a top five guy. He's chasing Brady. I'm chasing a ring. Let's go together in Kansas City and win big for this second chapter of my career. Kyle Shanahan Solak with Patrick Mahomes in Kansas City in the year 2029. What do you think? My Tomlin's more fun. I like my Tomlin's fun better. More fun? Was he going to bring in? What's that guy, Matt Canada? Who knows? I mean, geez. Kyle in Kansas City. So like, I feel like it would be very good, but also I feel like the discourse of Mahomes the Shanahan quarterback would be unbelievably toxic, right?

51:59Because he would win and he would look great in the offense. And we'd all be like, man, Mahomes is so good. And then there'd just be like a huge uproar of Niners fans being like, oh, but I'm sorry. Brock Purdy wasn't elite when he was in this offense. We all have to pretend we didn't see Mahomes for the last eight years playing without Kyle Shanahan. I like, yes, sure, absolutely. Do you think Andy would call Kyle and be like, I see a lot of myself in you? Or do you think Andy would call Kyle and be like, just go to bed, man. Like, you know, like it's not, it's not worth it there. It's crazy. No, I think, I think Andy Reid probably likes Kyle Shanahan a lot.

52:32And I don't think Andy Reid knows no life that doesn't involve coaching. That's why this is actually a hard exercise. Cause I don't know that there will ever be a time unless there's like a health event or something that really is like, dude, you need to slow down unless there's something like that. I don't know that he's ever going to be the person to say, I don't want to coach anymore. I mean, I had one on the cutting room floor where I had Andy Reid with like a third team at age 71. I was like, could Andy re-coach the Bills? Do you know the Lobey Smith Texans tenure? We were just like, why is this happening?

52:59I'm like, maybe he goes to Buffalo. And he's like, all right, Josh Allen, Kansas City don't want me. I'm going to Buffalo to get Josh Allen over the hump here. So I don't know that that would ever happen. But this brings to light that that Kansas City job at some point here with Mahomes still as the quarterback is kind of one of the most intriguing storylines maybe over the next three years. And they're just going to like internally promote spags, which would kind of bang not gonna lie I would enjoy I don't think enough people who consume the NFL understand just how New Jersey accent Spag's voice is and they need to hear him more like I just more Spag's presses I think are good for the people alright we've had too many too many repeats here I have an off the wall alright give it to me you're up 2029 preseason of exclusive of robot refs forces questions about future of umpiring in the NFL.

53:55All right? Okay. We planned this pod before the ref CBA was ratified. And did that CBA throw off my plan a little bit? Yes. Because there's like a new seven-year commitment to human being refs. And as part of the commitment is like, we're going to develop more officials and we're going to have a bench and so on and so forth. Goodell can do whatever he wants. He can rip that up if he wants to. the big NFL shield up and be like, you know, we can do whatever I want. the league is not going to suddenly walk out in week one and be like, all calls are from New York all calls are from the booths and from the VAR and whatever but there's no way the league is not going to start investigating more and more, we saw a rule change already this year where more calls can be made from New York can be adjusted from New York so the league is going to continue to experiment with how can we not pay refs on the field to make these decisions and have all these, our gambling partners get terrible looks when human referees blow calls?

54:52How can we kind of automate this process? I mean, like, you know me, I'm not a baseball fan. I'll watch every single ABS clip that comes across my screen. It's incredible. Electric, right? I love a little glowy dot in a box. If you give me a little glowy dot where somebody's feet touched the thing next to the sideline, I'm on the edge of my seat. So the 2029 preseason comes. The league has previously announced 18 months previous. Oh, we've partnered with new RoboVision company. insert like the worst name you've ever heard here. Like Palantir, named after villains. Like, you know, you've got RoboEyes 2000 is here to, you know, we're going to debut this in the Eagle Eye technology there watching the games.

55:32And so everybody's fired up about this, right? It's a Hall of Fame game. It's the, you know, Jaguars versus the Texans. They've never put the Jaguars in the Hall of Fame game. It's the Browns versus the Texans. They never put the Texans there either. It's the Browns versus the Cowboys Hall of Fame game. and we're gonna be debuting the robot umps and like you know there's just like a little like floaty spider cam he's wearing a little umpire hat and he's just like floating he doesn't do anything but like you know that's exciting for everyone and we're watching the game and the first like false start happens and like a little automated whistle blows little yellow flag pops on the screen woo great but then there's like a second quarter close touchdown and we get like a dramatic zoom in and like Like the picture perfect clarity.

56:13He just got his foot in on the third closest play to grass touchdown. There's a two minute warning, fourth and one attempt. And this would have been like, you know, bring out the note card to measure the ball sort of a situation. And Eagle Eye tells us, oh, short by three inches. Right? It's a bomb. Like the game is so fun. All the like little robot bells and whistles go great. There's no like unnecessary roughness penalty. Like, you know, leading with the helmet on a hit from a safe contact. like the stuff that actually is going to cause problems when you take the human judgment out of it. It's mostly just like zoom in camera work stuff.

56:46And it's a great time and everybody has fun. And there's a few more games of it. And then there's stink pieces about the fact that because this was fun, there'll be no more human umpires in 2032. And we're coming to the end of the human civilization. Yes. Just for the people who take it. If you have a robot ump squad, I'll be stunned. Yeah, I don't. I don't, you know, this one, as you were talking, my mind went in a bunch of different directions. I was trying to think of the robots that are actually in my life. Do you have robots at the grocery store there? No, they got robots at your grocery store?

57:14And now, as I was saying, I don't know what they do. I know my daughter loves them, and she has a name for the one guy that I can't remember, Harry or Marv or something, and I don't know what he actually does. What's he doing? Is he busy? I don't know. I was just trying to read. He's only at the one, and you actually could run into him, but I don't know what his actual function is now that I think about it. You've seen these at San Francisco, the Super Bowl. They have the cars without the drivers. Yeah. I want to hit it with a hammer. I don't like it. I want to be in a baseball bat. I've gotten in one of those.

57:43No shot. I'm getting one of those. Tried it out. Yeah. No way. Interesting. I did that. So you got that. You have the robot lawn mowing equipment at golf courses. Now, Solex. the lawn Roombas. That's interesting to me. Yeah. Because a Roomba is not threatening. Yes. Roomba is not threatening. So you've got that. But to your point, there's always been pieces written about the NFL. And like, I've been watching games for years being like, there has to be a more technologically sound way to do this. this because I don't think these refs are getting it right. And all due respect, there's got to be a better way to do it.

58:15And there's been pieces written that it's actually not that easy. It's harder to do in football, but man, watching baseball every night as I do this time of year, the ABS thing is so fricking exciting. I mean, I was at a game and I like rose to my feet when the Phillies won a challenge. It was so, it actually is so exciting when - Tennis watchers knew, us tennis watchers knew when there's a, when there's a close ball and it gets a challenge and everybody's like, Oh, like it's, it's a fun time. So fun and so quick. It does. It actually doesn't delay the game at all. Uh, and it's accurate. And so, yes, if there are ways like that to improve the football, I actually think it can improve the football viewing experience where it's not like, Oh man, added technology.

58:58Why are they doing this way? It extends the game. Other sports have shown if you do it correctly, it actually can add a little bit to the drama of the game. You're getting more calls right. And it's fun. It doesn't make the game longer. So I like that. I can't believe you and I, we're just, you know, I feel like we're kind of old souls, but we're just, bring on the robots. If the robots are going for the ums job, they're not coming for this job. All right. They're distracted. We've sacrificial lambed the umpires. We'll be okay for a few more years. Listen, you can't do what we do. Did you hear?

59:28I mean, the parenting conversation at the top. Come on. No robots doing that. Yeah. How are we feeling, Phil? Can we get a quick fill of these check? Yeah, they're back in it after, you know, fire their manager, 10-game losing streak, and now Donnie Baseball is the manager, and I'm not sure that he does anything, but he did. You'll appreciate this. I've never understood what the baseball managers do, even when it's good. So I'm finding the vibes. Because I feel like it's a Solak, sort of a life lesson. You know, you've hinted at this, but he took the job right as they were coming after the hardest stretch of the early part of the season and right before the easiest stretch of the season.

1:00:01I mean, that's good. You got to appreciate that. That's good work right there. It's great work. And is he wearing the uniform as all the managers do? Yeah, of course. Yeah. It's the best job in sports. Are you wearing the uniform to argue with umps? That's exactly the dream of every baseball fan. You get to wear the uniform, you get to argue with the umps. Well, I was at the practice round for the PGA here locally yesterday. So can we notice everyone here is dressed like we're about to play a round of golf. We are not playing golf. Why are we all dressed like we're going to play golf? So it's not quite the baseball manager, but it's pretty similar there.

1:00:30All right. I have two more for you okay I have no more that I like okay you have no more that you like so I'll give you my two you can react to these and then if it spurs anything you can mention it alright here we go Ravens Jets pull trigger on blockbuster Lamar Jackson no no no alright now I don't know how Mama Solak Jets fan would feel about this but let's talk about it alright so the Jets had three you mentioned it Jets have three first round picks in 2027. But the problem is you mentioned the scenario where, hey, if it's a team that doesn't have doesn't need a quarterback, it's the first pick.

1:01:08But what if it is a team that needs a quarterback with the first pick and the second pick and the third pick and they get like the fourth pick? Like those teams might not be trading out of those spots. And now all of a sudden you don't get the quarterback you want. So maybe they take someone later in the first round. I haven't studied all these guys, but I was looking at the early 2027 mocks. Oklahoma State has a guy. USC has a guy. Notre Dame has a guy. There you go. So there are other quarterbacks available, but then again, this is the Jets. So maybe they take a guy at like eight. And you know what?

1:01:40It's Sam Darnold and Zach Wilson all over again. They just can't catch a break. They can't draft the right quarterback. But you know what? They have a good roster in 2029. It is ready-made for a veteran quarterback to come in and have success. And by the way, so like they have a good coach, a man by the name of Greg Olson, the former Fox broadcaster. Oh, wow. Analytics darling. Media loves him in New York. He grew up in Jersey, not far from MetLife. Would the media love him in New York if he's an analytics darling? I feel like that would be a disqualifying trade. I think Greg Olson is going to, whenever he gets a head coaching job, and I believe he will.

1:02:15I've been stumping for listeners. That's a good take. I thought maybe, I think he might be the Eagles head coach if they fire Nick Sirianni after the season. I could see their ownership. I could see their ownership just had Jeffrey Lurie just being like, I love this guy. Josh McCallum, OC. Nick Foles, GM. Yeah. So anyway, I think he's going to, I think he's going to get a head coaching job at some point if he wants one. And the Jets at this point are ready to make a big move. You know, they don't want to wait too long on this rookie. Will he become something? Won't he become something? And then you have the Ravens.

1:02:46They're at another contract impasse with Lamar Jackson. It's just kind of defined his relationship with the team over the years. He's had enough. They're looking ahead going, he's entering his age 32 season. Are we sure we want to commit to this or do we want to be out ahead of this? He's still a good player. They can still get some good draft capital for him. And so they decide to make a deal. And so the Ravens trade Lamar Jackson to the Jets, revs up their fan base, and he hopes to become a hero in New York. You were shaking your head early. Why do you hate this one? So, okay, just so I understand it.

1:03:21They used a 2027 fix to take a quarterback and then also build out the roster. It doesn't go well with the quarterback, but the other first round picks, they nailed them. The team's really good. Olsen comes in, analytics darling. He's like, you know what you got to do? You got to trade multiple firsts for a 32-year-old quarterback. But he's also like an old school coach. He's not just analytics. I mean, he knows football. He's like, hey, I played with Cam Newton. Lamar still got it. Now, maybe Cam Newton. That's not the best comparison because his career got short. By the time Cam was 30, he was broken.

1:03:49All right. So like, stop poking holes in this. Lamar Jackson's going to the Jets. Are you in or are you out? So Lamar's got two years left on his deal. So this is, he plays out 26, plays out 27. They franchise tag him in 28. Maybe there's a one-year something in there. Yeah, famously one-year extensions for franchise quarterbacks. That's what they kind of, they did the weird thing this year. I mean, they can never get on the same page with Lamar Jackson. I guess he also has a no-tag clause, and so my idea of tagging him also doesn't work. I just, I think you're missing out on the real Jets disconcerted quarterback trade target, which is Broadway Joe 2.0, which is Burrow in Cincinnati.

1:04:27I couldn't get to a Burrow one. Do you actually, do you think he's going to get moved? I would say Burrow is more likely to be moved than Lamar is for sure. For sure. Because I think Burrow is much more likely to force the issue. Like Burrow is like very obviously to some degree discontented with the state of operations in Cincinnati. Lamar just like doesn't have, like his agent is his mom. And so like Lamar is just like harder to deal with, harder to parse than the typical guy because the process doesn't happen the same way every single time. Burrow, like, very obviously is mad about Southern Cincinnati.

1:04:56The moment they traded for a 29-year-old defensive tackle and a store contract off an elbow injury. Are we sure he's not just in his feelings a lot? Are we sure he's not just in his feelings a lot, Burrow? I mean, yeah, but they do what he wants. Anytime he says, oh, the science he hit, like, I don't know. They're building, they've built up the offense and they've made the moves he's publicly called for. The connection between they do what he wants and him being happy there is a lot less... It should be one-to-one, but I would say one of the number one things I've learned about star athletes in my time is star athlete gets what he wants, then becomes upset with that quite shortly after.

1:05:34Very good point. I always go back to Tyree Kilbane. I'm so happy to be here with Tua Tunga-Vailoa. He's the most accurate quarterback in the world. And then very quickly being like, wait a minute, he's not Patrick Mahomes. He gets what he wants. Dexter Lawrence, he does. And then his left guard's going to get hurt and he's going to get hit a few times. he's going to forget all about how much he liked Dexter Lawrence because Lev Gard got hurt. You know, like that's what it is to be a quasi-GM player is to just like make bold demands and then have them not pan out and then blame somebody else somewhere else.

1:06:01So to me, like Burrow, you say like, are you sure he's not just in his feelings? I think that's why he's more likely to get out of Cincinnati because he'll just get so deeply in his feelings that he'll be like, man, trade me. Whereas I don't think Lamar, like Lamar doesn't act that way to me. Lamar acts a lot more like, you know, we're going to get this done. And like, until we get it done, we haven't gotten it done. Like, you know, he's just very like, he doesn't do like subterfuge. He just kind of is like weirdly and aggressively frank about stuff in his way, which is a very entertaining way.

1:06:30Yeah, I don't know. I was looking at Miami too, where I was like, hmm. The difference there, I think, is the reason I push back every time there's like, oh, Joe Burrow is going to be out of Cincinnati. It's like the Bengals have zero motivation. Like, they don't have anything. Like he is the franchise and they're not like a forward thinking organization. They're not going to just, Oh yeah, we'll find the next year where the Ravens, I could be to see them being like, all right, you know, maybe this is the time to get out. We can still get a lot of value. We have a good team around him. Maybe you have a good offensive coach at that time.

1:07:03The Burrow thing. You can get me there on right. Like Lamar at 32 is much more likely to trail off dramatically than Burrow at 32 is assuming Burrow does not have any more major season ending injuries between now and then. Yeah. Yeah. So well, I, the Burrow thing, I was looking at it going, is there a Burrow thing I can squeeze into this episode? And I just, I was like, I don't know, like what would really motivate them to do that? If he was available, I mean, obviously you would get a haul and a lot of teams would be interested and he would be highly coveted around the NFL. But I just wasn't, I just can't imagine a scenario where inside the Bengals building, they're like, all right, let's go ahead and do this.

1:07:40Unless he's just so forcefully making them do it, which I guess is possible to your point. And that's why I think anytime star franchise quarterback is to get traded, it's either like Peyton Manning situation where, you know, like major neck injury, like, you know, you got to like get off because the physical train, like it might be totally gone or it is, you know, massive emotional problem, right? It is interpersonal problem that cannot be healed. And I feel like that I can see that happening in Cincinnati in a way that I don't see it happening in Baltimore. All right. Last one I've got for you.

1:08:12And then I, you know what? I have this like leftover list, so I might just hit you with some quick hitting questions. Of course. Yeah, just get it out there in case they're right. Yeah. All right. Last one. 2029 bears. Once again, the team to beat in the NFC. Heck yeah. It's 2029 bears. I've just made the playoffs for straight seasons for the second time in franchise history and last year. So like they got over the hump with their second Superbowl ever. Ben Johnson has become one of the greatest villains the league has ever seen. LaFleur, McVay, Shanahan. They hate the guy. They can't stand him.

1:08:49And you know what? Bears fans love it. They're building statues. They found the younger generation of Mike Ditka. Caleb Williams has become the face of the league. His immense talent has been crafted beautifully by a generational offensive mind. Dennis Allen is the new Spags. Nobody wants him as a head coach. But you know what? as a DC. He's doing work out there with these one-off game plans in the postseason in high leverage situations. And the Chicago Bears fans, they're in a place they dreamt. One day, one day, maybe we'll be in this spot. And guess what? It's 2029. And that's where you're at.

1:09:27So the Chicago Bears, how many teams have a brighter future the next three years than the Chicago Bears? I'm not sure. So long. Very, very few. I had a Ben Johnson one, which I figured was too self-serving to do, but it was like, you know, like headline, how Ben Johnson normalized the lateral in NFL offenses, right? Like I want by 2029, I want like a couple of laterals in game, right? For the best offenses. I think this would be like a schemed up part of the playbook. You know, like you have to like be defending for this. Like it's changing the way tackling angles work. And I figure if anybody's going to do it, it would be Ben Johnson doing it.

1:10:00But yeah, there's no 2029 headline so rosy that I'd like that's too much for the Chicago Bears. And I think especially because it's 2029, because I think in 2027, I wouldn't be surprised if they're just worse from like a playoff results than they were, right? Like they went down to the bitter end of the divisional round. That's just very hard to do. They're like, you know, one of the last eight and like pretty much one of the last like five teams standing there. They almost took the Rams the distance. And they just had so much turnover and that defense got a lot of luck last year. So I wouldn't be surprised if they're substantively better in terms of, you know, more reliable game to game.

1:10:33They don't have to win all this close stuff and all this gimmicky stuff. But the record doesn't super reflect it until they can fully reload the defensive coffers. And then in 2028, they shoot to the moon. So yeah, I'm Caleb and Ben Johnson. Yeah, those are two horses I've been hitching my wagon to since before they got together. Now they're together. So I like, you know, ceiling is the roof. All right. I've got some, just some questions for you. Let's look ahead. Look in your crystal ball. 2029 Solak. Has Josh Allen won a Super Bowl yet in the year 2029? I almost had a, you know, Josh Allen forcing a trade because he's just so sick and tired of getting close and losing there in Buffalo, but I didn't want to do it to Bills fans.

1:11:13I was trying to think of who the coach could be in Buffalo where if this doesn't work out this stretch here with Joe Brady, who's the coach? Who's the GM? Hey, let's try this again. We still have Josh Allen in his prime. So yeah, other than Andy Reid, I didn't get anywhere. Could Tomlin be a guy for them in Buffalo? Would he come back for Josh Allen, similar to our scenario there with the Chiefs. I don't know. I wanted to do AFC Championship game, Andrew Brede versus Sean McDermott, but McDermott's coaching the Chiefs and Andrew is coaching the Bills. Ooh, all right. I don't hate that one. That's an interesting one.

1:11:452029, has Lamar Jackson won a Super Bowl yet? Solak. Yeah. It's Jesse Minter experience. Yes. So you think more likely next three years, Lamar Jackson wins a Super Bowl than Josh Allen? Yeah, I believe in Minter more than I believe in Brady. and I believe in DaCosta a lot more than I believe in Bean. And I'm pretty frustrated with DaCosta right now, but I believe in him a lot more than I believe in Brandon Bean. That's different tiers right there. That's a tough one because I feel like I'm still inclined to say Buffalo, even though I almost feel like I don't know how much the coach matters. I'm just like, the offense is going to be good.

1:12:22Well, maybe the defense, maybe the new defensive coordinator, are you in on a Jim Leonard? Are you with the hipsters on Jim Leonard? Okay. So maybe. I guess it's hipster. I don't know. Like Jim Leonard has been known good at his job since the Wisconsin days. Like that's, he's going to be good. He's the, I mean, I don't even need to see a game coach. He's already the hipster defensive coordinator of 2026. I would have thought O 'Leary. Everybody's talking like, oh, like, you know, like. See, you're too deep. See, this is the problem. I'm a casual. So I can, I can scout the hipsters. You, you think the hipster thing is the normie thing.

1:12:56So then you got to go deeper down the hipster hole. And now you have to go down to O 'Lear. This is why we got to touch base on these things. I become uncentered, but I'm not talking to you. All right. I'm too far down the rabbit hole. All right. You mentioned Mike McDaniel with the Chargers. I was trying to get a Herbert Harbaugh Chargers take in here, but I almost feel like, I don't want to say this has to be the year for the Chargers, but it's sort of like, I don't think you're going to get an extended window of Mike McDaniel and Justin Herbert. You know, I think you even alluded to that, maybe two years, but maybe it's one year.

1:13:30Because if Herbert's great this year, if their offense is amazing, it's almost like, no, you got to win the championship this year or get to the Super Bowl because then if McDaniel leaves, now you got to find the next coordinator for him. And who knows if that's going to work. So where are you with Herbert, McDaniel, Harbaugh, the Chargers the next one year, the next three years here? I love it. I'm so excited. I love the way Jim's talking about the offense. Jim, like, you know, he seems like he's bought in on what McDaniel's going to bring, the way he's changed how Jim thinks about football. McDaniel gave an interview to thechargers.com last week.

1:14:02You should read it. McDaniel's basically just like, yep. Like, McDaniel's about as boldly as you can say something in May. Because he's doing like, you know, we got to work on footwork and timing and figure stuff out. But the way McDaniel's talking about this, McDaniel, he had a line where he was like, it's reasonable to expect season high or career bests for every single offensive player. Like, something like that, right? he's like clearly very confident in what they're doing Herbert seems bought in it's all great the guards are Trevor Penning and Cole Strange and like I just refuse to participate in Chargers preseason hype again knowing that we can say everything about the excitement about Harbaugh Herbert and McDaniel about how Amarion Hampton fits in the running game about how Landon McConkie is going to use in the passing game it can all end up being 100 % true but they'll lose three key games because they still don't have guards and then everybody to be like, oh, you're an idiot.

1:14:52You believed in the Chargers. But yeah, well, I thought they would have guards and interrupt guards. All right, but you can't have a great player at every position. You want them to reach a level of average competency. I didn't say great player at every position. It's Trevor Penning and Cole Strange. I needed Isaac Sayamalo at$8 million a year, and I got Cole Strange. Yeah, yeah, that's tough. And then, yeah, last year they had a chance to trade down. They took Amari and Hampton. This year they take Mesador, who's 25 on defense, so they had... Yeah, I don't like Mesador. some options to fill those holes and they did not do it.

1:15:26All right. I think I had a Rams-Tis Simpson one on here, but you already gave your kind of take on that one. I just wanted to do it just to be mean of your pejorative. What's yours? No, I think your scenario is probably likely. I'm not going to say I'm bullish. I mean, maybe it could work. I don't want to bet against John McVay. I just like... Here's why it's a problem. And nobody ever talks about this with the whole developmental guy behind the older guy thing. Stafford plays one more year. The Rams lose in the divisional round in a very close game. Stafford has like a not MVP season, but like a really great season.

1:15:58And then he retires. Simpson's going to take over as the starter. Simpson was the 13th overall pick. Les Snead put an enormous stamp of development on him. He's got one year in the system. Heck, make it two years if you want. I don't care. Sean McFay's still coaching the team. Pugan Akua's still catching passes. So team largely looks like they've looked to this point. How many games does Simpson get until we all start freaking out? Right? It's like three. That's the thing with, oh, you know, get that early developmental guy. Yeah, well, we're all going to be watching him. And if he's not good fast, there's going to be a lot of writing about it.

1:16:28There's going to be a lot of conversations about it. There's going to be a lot of hemming and hawing and hindsight's 20-20. And that matters in terms of a guy's development, right? It's hard to develop when you have that much scrutiny on you. So that's why, like, Simpson's going to have a very short leash once he gets there to, like, show that he's got it. Otherwise, there's going to be a lot of pressure heating up on him. Not only outside scrutiny, but what, like, if the first month McVay's like, shoot, I don't know if this guy's got it. Then what's your plan after that? So that, yeah, it was a head-scratching pick that could look brilliant three years from now, but I'm not going to predict that it's going to look brilliant.

1:17:00You said Stafford retires? I don't know. I feel like Stafford's on another team next year. I don't, he had, unless his body, unless he just cannot like move, that is like, he's in the Andy Reid bucket for me, where he's like, you will drag me off this football field. You think so? Yeah. The way he talks about it, I feel like he's going to be willing to retire. Really? But he's played through so many injuries and is still so good at what he does, where I just feel like... I think there's a difference between... I think there's a difference between... You don't have to practice on these days and we're going to have you do X, Y, and Z and we can extend your career.

1:17:33I don't know. Teams are going to want him next year. I think there's a difference between toughness and obstinance, right? I think that he is extremely tough, but that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be so obstinate so as to continue playing when he simply cannot anymore, right? I think that he continued playing this year because he could continue playing. Like, none of us really knew what was happening in the heatwave UV truck. But, like, very clearly, like, all right, there was a shot. I think once there's no more shot, he'll say there's no more shot. Yeah. But if he plays well enough, where the team's still pretty good, he feels good, and then are they moving on?

1:18:02There are going to be other teams who would want him, I think, after a season like that. So the wheels would really have to fall off for him to not have a market after this season. All right. Those are our 2029 predictions. Which ones have the best shots? Which ones are we feeling good about here? I love Tomlin of the Chiefs. I think it's so spiritually sound. I do like that. Yeah, and then he's very successful there. Everybody thinks the Steelers would have made a mistake except for Steelers fans who are all convinced that it was still the right move as Mike McCarthy goes like 10 and 7 with Drew Aller at quarterback or something disgusting.

1:18:36I like that one. you got me there on Stroud Hurts. That's an extremely fun plot. I think that's the one I feel best about. When I came up with that I'm like, listen, Andy Reid might not still have his fastball shield, but you still got it. Alright, this is a good one. We're going to surprise Solak with this one. So there we go. We'll see. Three years from now. I may not have gotten Peyton Manning to the Colts right, but I promise you within the next three years, some team is going to make some ridiculous ex-quarterback hire. Might have already happened to Matt Ryan, but I feel like that one's defensive.

1:19:05Some team will make some ridiculous ex-quarterback hire that will then go absurdly badly. Yeah, we're aligned that Andy Reid's not going to be coaching the Chiefs, we don't think, in 2029. We're aligned that we think Mike Tomlin's going to be back in the NFL in the year 2029. Hurts won't be an eagle. Hurts won't be an eagle in 2029. And what was the one you just said? The quarterback. And we're aligned that Peyton Manning's going to be running a team in 20, this is good. We went over in, in 2023. So we really didn't hit here in 26. No, we didn't. We nailed them, but yeah, you can't find those in the feed anymore.

1:19:43Something happened, uh, with Spotify, but don't worry about that. We nailed them. Uh, I think it's a good scope into what we're going to be talking about. Maybe in the next three years. Sorry. His name is Benjamin. So I can check him out. ESPN, ESPN.com. Mina Keim show coming up. Yeah. I got the quarterback draft next week. That's right. Mina Keim show talking quarterbacks next week. You can, and don't forget, on all the social medias. This guy with the gardening football takes. I mean, I'm telling you, compelling content. Check it out. All right, Solak. Thank you as always, my friend. Thanks, Joe.

1:20:16All right, thanks to Chris and Brasun for producing. Stefano Sanchez on video and additional production supervision by Connor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopala. I'm Shil Kapadia. We'll talk to you next time on The Ringer NFL Show.

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