Malik Willis's Future, John Harbaugh's Workouts, and Stories That Have Our Attention!

17:07Billy Gil:Is that the biggest unsolved mystery in the NFL, Billy? That this guy was getting ready for a game stretching and something happened with an elastic band. You know, I think about this when I'm doing my physical therapy, rotator cuff exercises they have me doing at home. I have the elastic band and I'm looking at him going, should I be wearing goggles? Because Anthony Richardson did something with an elastic band that affected his eyesight and a fractured orbital bone, Billy. We don't know any of the details about this.

17:37Sheil Kapadia:I gotta be honest with you. Now I'm more intrigued about your physical therapy and what's going on with your rotator cuff. Like, were you throwing too many footballs? Like, is this a sports injury? Nobody knows, Billy. Nobody knows how it happened.

17:48Billy Gil:This is what happens when you get older, you wake up and you can't do certain things with your shoulder and you think it's going to go away in two weeks and it doesn't go away. And then you're like, fine, I'll go to a doctor. And the doctor's like, all right, go to physical therapy. And then they give you some elastic bands. And here we are talking about Anthony Richardson.

18:04Sheil Kapadia:Yeah. I mean, so here's the question with him, because you said this during the season where you were trying to figure out where do the dolphins move to? How do they get out from all the Tua money? and you threw out there the idea of maybe he ends up with the Colts and they eat some of that money and along with him, you send along like a first or second round pick and in exchange, you get Anthony Richardson. I would think that's not going to happen because they have come out and they said they're happy with Daniel Jones and Riley Leonard for whatever reason. They're happy with Riley Leonard. So it doesn't seem like that's the destination for Tua, but are the Dolphins then a destination for Anthony Richardson?

18:40Sheil Kapadia:I don't know because they have to clear out a lot of money the Dolphins do with the Tua thing. So do you take on Anthony Richardson? He doesn't have that same relationship with the Packers brass that now runs the Dolphins that Malik Willis has. So Anthony Richardson, you would think, ends up somewhere, right? It's not like this is the end of the road for him. You have teams that could benefit from having him. I mean, what happens, you know, if Malik goes to the Dolphins, then the Cardinals say, hey, let's take a look at Anthony Richardson. The Jets have any interest in Anthony Richardson. There's teams out there that might like him because he's also somewhat of an unknown.

19:17Sheil Kapadia:I mean, he's been bad at times, but he's also led game-winning drives against the Jets, against the Patriots. He's shown that he can do it if he can stay healthy. He just can't stay healthy. So do you roll the dice on him? There's not great options out there at QB right now. And in the draft, you basically just have Fernando Mendoza, and then you have to wait until borderline, end of Ty Simpson at the end of the first round, maybe a second rounder. So it's not like the solve for a lot of these teams is going to be in the draft. So I don't know what you do with him. What do you do with him?

19:49Billy Gil:So I think that the Colts are going to trade him because he's good. He would otherwise be their third string quarterback. I think they're going to have to work something out with Daniel Jones, which I don't know if that's going to be a great situation, paying Daniel Jones a lot of money coming off an Achilles, but it sounds like that's what they're going to do. You mentioned their owner.

20:06Sheil Kapadia:Why are they so public about that? By the way, why are they showing all their hands with Daniel Jones?

20:11Billy Gil:Daniel Jones is coming back. It's like, he's a free agent. If you tag him, you're paying him one year,$47 million. That to me does not sound like a good idea for Daniel Jones coming off an Achilles. And then if it's a long-term deal, you mentioned the Darnold contract. I don't know that I would love to pay, you know, Daniel Jones,$34 million per year going off of a 10 game sample. But I said that last year, they loved it. They seem to love Daniel Jones. And they're like, he's going to be our long-term quarterback. Don't say that though.

20:40Sheil Kapadia:Just don't say that out loud.

20:42Billy Gil:Why are they saying that out loud? Right. They could be like, we don't know. And then you're wondering, wait, would they make a play from Malik Willis? You're right. Because they could be a mystery team for some of these quarterbacks for a Kyler Murray. But they seem to have no interest in playing that game publicly. So Anthony Richardson, I think, is interesting. Not because I think he's going to be great or even good or even competent. But you know who he is, Billy? What? He is cheap. and I don't think it's going to take more than a day three pick maybe to get Anthony Richardson. So low risk.

21:16Billy Gil:I like that. Always stockpile quarterbacks. You know, some of these franchises, the Eagles like to do that. Hey, if there's a quarterback, let's just go out and get them. It's low risk. We're not giving much up. But here's the other thing I was thinking. I want to run this by you. How often are we watching these high leverage games, these playoff games, or even maybe regular season, and it comes down to, hey, it's third and one, fourth and one, and a team has some weird play. You know, we saw, remember that Broncos game against the Patriots? We saw that, right? They went forward on fourth and one.

21:49Billy Gil:They run some play action with Jared Stidham. It's a disaster. And all of a sudden, everyone's going, that swung the game. Why would it be worth it for me if I'm a team to give up a day three pick and say, Hello Anthony, nice to see you We are going to work on Quarterback sneaks with you Before you even attempt One pass, we are going to make this You're a monster, you're one of the Strongest guys in the NFL at quarterback And we're going to come up with Here's how we're going to run the quarterback sneak We're going to watch that Tom Brady film From back in the day, maybe we watched a little Tush push film, and this is going to be Unstoppable, and we're not paying you a lot Of money, but guess what, every time it's third and one and fourth and one this season, you are going to come into the football game.

22:35Billy Gil:Everyone in the stadium is going to know we're running a quarterback sneak, but it's going to be worth it for us to give up a day three pick just to do that. I think that would make a lot of sense. I would do that. Billy, what do you think?

22:47Sheil Kapadia:I guess why wouldn't the Colts just keep them for that purpose then? Right? Like I, I, the problem with giving up a day three pick is, you know, how this ends is he's going to get injured on that play at one point in time in the season. Like that's exactly how he was getting concussed and injured the first season is he was just always running. Wasn't it Trevor Lawrence that went up to him and told him like, hey, maybe stop like running like that. It was another quarterback.

23:13Billy Gil:Was it CJ Stroud? I can't remember. Somebody was people kept whispering to Anthony Richardson. Do you remember that? Kevin O 'Connell whispered him, whispered to him at the end of the game. You're going to be a great quarterback in this league. Like what, what makes a quarterback worthy of so many postgame whispers?

23:28Sheil Kapadia:I don't know. Yeah.

23:29Billy Gil:Just a nice guy, maybe. An approachable guy.

23:32Sheil Kapadia:Especially someone who like, we didn't see a ton in college. We kind of were gambling that this would work out in the NFL. Haven't seen a ton in the NFL, but everyone on the limited stuff that they've seen with Anthony, like this guy's going to be great one day when he finds the right opportunity. It's kind of like, when are we going to get there? Maybe this is it. Maybe this is the right opportunity. Who knows? Yeah. So I'm looking at the teams.

23:51Billy Gil:You mentioned a bunch of teams that need quarterbacks. So Dolphins, Jets, Steelers, Browns, Vikings. I just said, KOC whispered to him, Cardinals, Falcons. But I almost think that maybe one of these teams that already has a quarterback is like, they're like, this is the right guy to take a flyer on. Again, it doesn't cost much. If you're the Ravens, for example, would you want him as a backup to Lamar Jackson? That could be interesting. If you're the Chiefs and you're not sure about Patrick Mahomes to start the season or you just need a backup, you know, Andy Reid loves, you know what Andy Reid loves?

24:24Billy Gil:I'm going to take that quarterback who no one believes in. I'm going to develop him because I am the greatest quarterback developer in NFL history. You know, the Eagles would love to do it. Howie Roseman would just do it. And then he would go on social media. And then he would just, oh my God, send me all the tweets about how smart I am. We're such a smart organization. I have a sleeper for you.

24:43Sheil Kapadia:Okay.

24:43Billy Gil:I don't know if you remember this. When Anthony Richardson was coming out, there was a lot of buzz that the Seattle Seahawks were interested in Anthony Richardson. That one came to mind. The Rams, your quarterback's what, 38 years old? You just say, hey, bring Anthony Richardson in for a year. So I think there's actually a lot of teams where it's part quarterback sneak guy, it's part developmental number two or number three quarterback. We're giving you a day three pick. I think Anthony Richardson gets moved in one of those situations. What do you think?

25:14Sheil Kapadia:Now, I have a question for you. Let's say the Eagles do say, you know what, we're going to bring them in and we're going to have them be like our backup for like, you know, the tush push or whatever. We're going to have him come in for like the short plays. Do we then have a controversy in Philadelphia where Jalen Hurts, one of his values is the tush push and this is so unstoppable with him. And now they bring in Anthony Richardson and now it's like, whoa, hold on. Like, this is my turf, the short distance gain here.

25:42Billy Gil:I think Jalen Hurts will be so happy to never have to run the tush push again. I think everybody involved in it finds it a little painful and uncomfortable. vulnerable and so i think jalen hurts would be fine go ahead you take the tush push i'll come

25:56Sheil Kapadia:back in for the next down so what i'm wondering what how is this going to impact his stats you know what i mean because how many touchdowns do we have on those plays i could see that maybe hurts

26:06Billy Gil:it's like if we're at the goal line i'm doing it if we're anywhere else on the field you're doing okay yeah maybe something like that you're the expert yeah you can work it out all right let's take a break that's anthony richardson i think he's going to get traded we'll see if he ends up getting traded. We're going to come back. And there's a story that I'll be honest, this is the one I've been waiting to get Billy's take on all day long. So let's take a break. We'll come back. We'll get to that. This episode is brought to you by Mint Mobile. Quit overspending on wireless with 50 % off unlimited premium wireless.

26:39Billy Gil:Plans start at$15 a month at mintmobile.com slash ringer NFL. Limited time offer, upfront payment of$45 for three months, $90 for six months or$180 for 12 months. Plan required$15 per month equivalent. Taxes and fees extra initial plan term only. Over 50 gigabytes may slow when network is busy. Capable device is required. Availability, speed, and coverage varies. CementMobile.com. This episode is brought to you by Hotels.com. Save Your Way is a new feature on Hotels.com and it's as simple as it sounds. When you book a trip as a Hotels.com member, you decide how to use your savings. Take the instant savings now or bank the savings as rewards for later.

27:21Billy Gil:It's your call. Only at Hotels.com. Save Your Way is available to loyalty members in the US and UK and hotels with member prices. Other terms apply. See site for details. All right. We are back here on the Ringer NFL show. and Billy, the John Harbaugh content has been just out of this world, in my opinion, so far. We did a whole segment on them taking him out to dinner, what he was ordering. There's so many details because it seems like a longtime reporter, Ian O 'Connor of The Athletic, he obviously has some type of great relationship with John Harbaugh where he can basically call him up at any time, ask him anything.

28:02Billy Gil:And Harbaugh is like, I'm going to give you every single detail that you need. And so it's great for us in content because you don't get this kind of detail on other coaches. So there's the story in The Athletic. Inside, Giants coach John Harbaugh's frantic first 30 days in office. And I'll be honest, of anything we're talking about today, I have more notes on this than anything else. But I want to cede the floor to you. You read this story, right? Did you do the homework?

28:32Sheil Kapadia:I did read it. I read the story. Honestly, I was hoping for more crazy details than we got because we didn't get like when I hear frantic and I saw that headline, I was like, wow, this team must be in disarray. Things must be falling apart. And it was really more just highlighting how weird John Harbaugh is. right? Like, and to your point, it seems like he's an open book. If you want to kind of highlight how weird he is, like, I guess he just thinks like, this is very normal. And when we go and put out all these details about John and Jim and all the hard balls there, they just, their life is so normal to them that other people highlighting what they do.

29:10Sheil Kapadia:They're like, yeah, this is looks great. And everyone reading it is like, what's wrong with them? Like, why are they the way that they are? It's the strangest thing. The fact that he has these trainers and he has this schedule, I mean, he has like the schedule that everybody assumes that all NFL coaches have, right? Get into the facility at 4 a.m., get out by 8 p.m., hopefully. And then we went through like his workout routine. I was so intrigued by that. Were you? What was the part that you liked the most about it?

29:37Billy Gil:Well, let me just read it to the audience because I don't think everybody has probably read this. So to your point, it says he gets into the facility at 4 a.m. and he works out with a member of the strength and conditioning staff. So, you know, whoever that guy, they name a couple of names here. those guys are like, I didn't think we were going to have to come in at 4 a.m. to work out with the coach. Like we have a day long thing to do with all the players. We're trying to get them ready for the offseason program and, you know, the training camp and all that. But they're coming in, working out the coach who's 63 years old.

30:08Billy Gil:And it says, Billy, that it's a program merging of the Ravens and Giants philosophies and is broken down into three week cycles defined by different exercises and tempos. Sometimes the emphasis was on explosion, other times on deceleration. Mondays, circuit training. Tuesdays, leg days. Wednesdays, upper body. Thursdays, cardio. Friday's, core, shoulder, and arms. And it says if Harbaugh doesn't look his age, this routine is why his leg squats are impressive and he still looks like he can match his career best bench press of 335 pounds, Billy, as a college safety at Miami, Ohio. I mean, I read this.

30:55Billy Gil:I said, I want video. I want the old, you know, NewYorkGiants.com. Give me the behind the scenes where you're filming him coming in at 4 a.m. I want to see him doing these squats, these, these bench presses. I want to see every aspect of this workout routine. Is he listening to a podcast? Maybe he's listening to us right now. Does he listen to music? Hey coach, how are you? Good to talk to you again. So I found that just very, very intriguing. He's 63 to be doing this workout routine. And like you said, clearly he's like, I want people to know this. I'm in great shape and here's what I do.

31:31Sheil Kapadia:I caught a little flex by you there. Great to speak to you again, coach. So it seems as though you're putting it out there. Hey, remember me? It's Shield. That was many years ago.

31:40Billy Gil:I caught a flex from you. Who were you? Michael Schur. Was that on tailgate? That clip that came, yeah. You subtly will name drop a little bit. And I like it. I think it's good for content. But I just want you to know I'm noticing.

31:54Sheil Kapadia:I didn't like it. I didn't want to do it because here's the thing. Was it you that I told that I usually lie down about my height? Like I say that I'm shorter than I am.

32:03Billy Gil:That was me, yes.

32:04Sheil Kapadia:Yeah. So it's the same with that. I don't like doing a name drop like that because I don't want people to misinterpret and think that there's a closer relationship than there is. Like I want to be very clear. It's not a close relationship. You know, it's not like we've ever gone out and had dinner together or anything like that. Like, it's just, I feel uncomfortable, but.

32:20Billy Gil:That's your move, I find. You do the name drop, but then you do the immediate caveat that we're not actually that good friends.

32:27Sheil Kapadia:False humility.

32:28Billy Gil:Yeah, I think that's it. Interesting.

32:31Sheil Kapadia:John Harbaugh. Wow, geez, shot fired over here by a shield. Do you think he really benches 325 or whatever? No chance, right?

32:39Billy Gil:No, 63, that team is very dangerous. Like, you shouldn't even be. I was you.

32:43Sheil Kapadia:Right? Things just, I mean, look, look at you. You're out there, not that you're 63, but you're out there just saying like, I don't know what happened to my rotator cuff. Where if something happens to his, it's like, coach, maybe it was the 400 pounds you were trying to squat the other day that happened to you. Like, stop doing that. Also, to your point, this training staff has to be like, what are we doing here? Why are we doing this? Coach, can we do this like an 8.30 workout? Like maybe get in, check some emails at 4 a.m. Like, why do I have to be in for this situation? How do you think you would do, Sheil, If you had a job where...

33:17Sheil Kapadia:It's not part of his job. He's made this part of his job, right? But I guess he's in charge and he only reports to the owner so he doesn't have to answer to anyone else. So he can just kind of do whatever he wants. And part of his job seems to be the daily workout and he has his people coming in, working him out when it's like, coach, some people might wonder, is this abuse of power or we're just using the facilities and the staff to kind of benefit ourselves? Not I. I wouldn't say that, coach, if you're listening right now and it's 4 a.m. and this is what day it is today. The show will be out, what day is it?

33:46Sheil Kapadia:Thursday, yeah. Friday morning? Friday, yeah. I don't know what day it is anymore. Something. After the season ended, I don't know what day it is. No. Anyway, how do you think you would be if part of your job was just exercise every day? Do you think that you'd be substantially different built?

34:02Billy Gil:I would love that, first of all, if that was part of the job, you know? And I actually wouldn't, you know, I think I could get into a routine where I was waking up that early and making it, all right, we're going to have a very structured routine. We're going to get, but I would need to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Like he is still, it sounds like, because, you know, if you're going to focus on the health, you can't be getting like four or five hours of sleep and doing this, you know, especially in your 60s, that doesn't seem healthy. But I don't know if it's an abuse of power or not. Like obviously one great part about working for an NFL team is you get to use the training facility.

34:37Billy Gil:You get to use the workout facility. That's like a world-class gym with all the best stuff in there for professional athletes making millions of dollars. But yeah, once you bring in the strength and conditioning coach to it, that's very interesting to me. Like, are those guys just complaining to their whoever, their wives, their guys? Oh my God, sorry, son. I'm not going to, yeah, I'll see you on the weekend because I'm out of the, literally out of our house at 3.30 because I have to be there working out our coach at 4 a.m. in the off season. It's February, Billy. This is usually when they get to at least relax a little bit.

35:12Sheil Kapadia:That's what I'm saying. Like, this is the time, like, oh, I could finally take my kids to school. It's like, nope, you can't do drop-off today. Got to be at 3.30 because not just the coach, the boss, because of the way that this, you know, power dynamic has been structured is saying you got to come in. And you know what? Here's the importance, I think, as someone who is not in good shape, and this will be one of my fallout. But you are a former college athlete, Paul Volter. I am, I am, yes. But here's the thing. A very important thing in getting in shape, I've experienced, and having that routine is having a good gym buddy.

35:45Sheil Kapadia:Having someone there that's going to push you. If you have a trainer, it's the same, I guess, because you go and they push you, they tell you what to do, and they're helping you along the way. But doing it on your own is very hard to do, and it's hard to have that discipline if you're really just working out by yourself at a gym. So he's forcing gym buddies. Like these aren't bonds that have actually been created with these trainers. It's kind of like they're there, but I almost wonder, do they want him to succeed? Are they kind of coaching him the proper way? Or is this just a, it's 4.15 on a Tuesday, the third week of February.

36:22Sheil Kapadia:Like, let's just get through this exercise and get on to whatever's next in my day, you know? And then if we're just kind of going through the motions in the gym, could this potentially be putting his health at risk? Could he now get some sort of injury? Imagine if we have to see Jim Harbaugh on the sideline at some point this year, and he's on one of those scooters. Wheel around. Yeah, that you just put your knee on, and you hold it, and it's like one knee is on it. Yeah, because he tears an Achilles or something in the gym because his trainer's not paying attention because they're being forced against their will to be in there at 4.17 a.m.

36:58Billy Gil:Well, listen, the power dynamic is something else that was in this article and that's in pretty much all the coverage of John Harbaugh where in everything I read, he tries to say something about Joe Shane, but he also makes it very clear that Joe Shane has no power and is basically there to get him coffee. You know, like he hired Don Aponte, who is a senior VP of football operations and strategy. And he's basically like, Like, all right, she's going to be the one in charge of a lot of stuff. And then he retells the story. Well, I was flirting with the Titans because I needed to make sure that I was only reporting to the owner.

37:33Billy Gil:I'm not reporting to Joe Shane. So yes, I think everybody in the building right now knows that John Harbaugh is running the show, including the strength and conditioning staff. They're like, yeah, of course we have to show up here because this guy could have us fired. This guy could have us hired, whatever. So I understand that. But then the other aspect of this, Billy, did you notice what he's eating for breakfast? It got into what he eats a little bit during the course of the day.

37:58Sheil Kapadia:There was some oats in there, right? I've been reading conflicting things on oats, to be honest with you as of late.

38:05Billy Gil:Well, do you want to share that before I want to?

38:07Sheil Kapadia:I've been reading it's not as good for you as some people are leaning on, which, by the way, what a time we live in, right? We're back in the day, just four out of five dentists could tell us which is the best toothpaste to use. And you'd say, all right, good enough for me, right? But now there's all these diets out there and some people are saying, hey, you should only eat meat. You should be like on this carnivore diet. You should be vegan or there's a Mediterranean diet where there's only fish involved. And then there's gluten free. And then some people say, you know what? You should be eating more of this, less of this.

38:37Billy Gil:Atkins, no carbs, intermittent fasting.

38:41Sheil Kapadia:No carbs, only carbs. Some fasting, no fasting, only water. Can we kind of come to a resolution here as a people on what it is that we should and shouldn't be eating? Because then I'm going online and I'm seeing like, this is what, not to mention any names of brands, but like this is what this orange soda looks like in America. And this is what the exact same orange soda looks like in Europe. Look at all this artificial coloring. And there's 46 grams of sugar in this one and only 12 grams of sugar in this one. And it tastes exactly the same. It's like, where do I live? Like, where should I live so that I can have the best possible bread that's healthy for me?

39:16Sheil Kapadia:That's not going to slowly kill me. Because every article that I read about anything is basically telling me, this is how this product is giving you cancer. Like, I can't light a scented candle because I'm going to get sick from the scented candle. And I can't eat this bread because of the way that it's processed. And I can't take a shower after this time of night because that's going to get me sick. And I should only be having cold showers because the hot showers do something to my body in the morning where the cold shower is the equivalent of drinking coffee, which I shouldn't be drinking anyways, because that's a problem.

39:46Sheil Kapadia:I can't keep track of this anymore, Steele. It's not working out for me.

39:52Billy Gil:You're absolutely right. I mean, I mentioned my Instagram algorithm when we were in San Francisco. And yeah, I scroll on one thing and it's like, I have this much protein. And then the next one's like, all right, you don't need to eat. People are lying to you actually don't need that much protein. And then one's like, oh, you should be taking this at this time of day. And then the next one's like, biggest lies ever told. You have to take protein at a certain time. Which one is it? I don't know who to believe with these Instagram trainers.

40:16Sheil Kapadia:Chris Long told me to take creatine gummies in the morning and that that will be helping me with my body when we were at the Super Bowl. No, I started looking it up and I was seeing mixed reviews on that. And I was like, I don't know if Chris Long thinks that I have the same workout regimen that he does and that I should be taking the same supplements that he's taking. Because we have very different body types. And the effort of the gym between the two of us is very different. We're probably similar in age, but he is biologically a lot younger than I am. Yeah.

40:43Billy Gil:Okay.

40:44Sheil Kapadia:So can I tell you one thing in the article that I read before? Because I feel like you're moving on to the next thing. You know who I felt got the most pressure out of anyone in this article by Jim Harbaugh or John Harbaugh? Matt Nagy. Oh, yes. You saw it too.

41:00Billy Gil:Yeah. Go ahead. Tell the people what he said.

41:02Sheil Kapadia:He said that he expects Matt Nagy to be the best offensive coordinator to coach the game ever. Where is he getting this from? I understand you want to support your guys and your hires. That's a crazy quote.

41:17Billy Gil:How did that not get aggregated everywhere? That should have been on my timeline nonstop. I had the same thought. I'm looking at this because if you're a Giants fan, you went through the excitement of landing John Harbaugh. where you're like, this is the best case scenario. We got John Harbaugh and Joe Shane doesn't have power. It's a good situation. And then John Harbaugh put together his coaching staff, Billy. And Matt Nackey is his offensive coordinator. And as he said, I'm hoping he'll be the best offensive coordinator to ever coach the game. That's what we're shooting for. I expect Matt to be the best ever.

41:52Billy Gil:Actual quote from John Harbaugh in this athletic article.

41:55Sheil Kapadia:They're too intense. Tone it down, Harbaugh. Relax. Yeah.

41:58Billy Gil:Then Brian Callahan, he hired as the offensive coaching staff, who was one of the worst head coaches we've seen in the last decade. I know it's a different job, but he was like legit, like, oh my gosh, this guy, I don't even know how they're fielding a team right now. This guy is so lost with what to do. By the way, he left the Bengals and the Bengals offense got better after he left. But all right, so he got Brian Callahan there. And then, Billy, he brought in Greg Roman, who Chargers fans like threw a parade when they got rid of Greg Roman this offseason. And Greg Roman is literally going from brother to brother.

42:35Billy Gil:He was with John Harbaugh with the Ravens, got fired for Todd Munkin. Jim Harbaugh takes over the Chargers. He gets hired by Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers. Jim Harbaugh has seen enough after two years, fires him, goes to Mike McDaniel. Now he's going back to John Harbaugh with the Giants. Now this is the off season. So I'm getting caught up on some TV, Billy, and I don't know how many people get the rest. He's like Isabel Conklin. Am I right? I don't know who that is, but you're right. Some right turn pretty. No, okay. Basically, you can't decide between the two brothers. Whose side are you on?

43:08Billy Gil:You know, not to spoil anything. I think, you know, it's been out for a long time, but you know.

43:12Sheil Kapadia:Did you see who was also floated out there? Because it was reported like he filled out this 30 person staff, but he really reached out to hundreds of people over calls and texts. And one name that was highlighted as a person he was discussing, but did not end up agreeing to terms with was defensive coordinator, Rex Ryan. Rex Ryan. Rex Ryan would have been so great there. It wouldn't have worked, but just throwing Rex into this insanity would have been so good. When's Rex going to get another shot? Where's Rob, by the way? Is Rob still out there? He was in the Cowboys, right?

43:44Billy Gil:Rob was an assistant somewhere last year. I don't know. But yeah, you know, I read the name, you know, I saw who he ended up with and then I saw who he spoke to. And as someone who has kind of defended John Harbaugh and thought he was a very good coach, I did sort of land on, I'm not sure how this is going to go. But you know what? Fantastic content. And by the way, the breakfast was consisted of energy bars, oat bars and oatmeal packs that his assistant lifted from her hotel lobby, which I thought, can we do a little bit better for the$20 million a year? Can we have someone get a smoothie ready for him and leave it in the fridge at the cafeteria or something the night before?

44:20Billy Gil:Because that felt to me like if you're putting in the effort for all the workouts, we need to focus on the breakfast a little bit more.

44:26Sheil Kapadia:Also, just pay for your meals. What are we taking from the hotel lobby for? Also, Rob Ryan is at USC in case you were wondering.

44:32Billy Gil:I was. I was kind of on the edge of my seat there, if I'm being honest. I wasn't sure. Okay. John Horbaugh, Ian O 'Connor, The Athletic. The content's fantastic. I am more interested in the Giants than I have been in a very long time. Giants social media, Giants video content team, if you're listening to this, let's get some more details. If we see the workouts, maybe Billy and I, maybe he pops a creatine gummy and then he does a John Harbaugh workout. We get a little video for that. And we're just, the views are going through the roof.

45:04Sheil Kapadia:Giants, if you're out there, you want to invite us up for a workout? I will happily go up with Shield and work out with Coach Harbaugh. you know let's do it if we have to do 4 a.m like one day that we can i'll be there we'll make it work out i'll be there at 3 45 let's go let's do it all right let's take one more break we come back we've got some other stories that have our attention all right we are back here on the ringer

45:27Billy Gil:nfl show billy i don't even know what to say about this one but i just wanted to get your take if you have anything interesting about it if not we can move on but the 49ers are playing in mexico and Australia next year. Two international games they're playing for the first time ever. They give up a home game to play in Mexico City, and then they're going to play in Melbourne against the Los Angeles Rams. Do you have any strong takes on the international play, or do you want me to just move on?

45:55Sheil Kapadia:No, I saw that they're traveling over 38 ,000 miles next season, which seems absolutely brutal. It seems as though the NFL is seeing what they can do to the 49ers and their bodies. There's that substation situation where they were looking into that or not, and that was leading to injuries. And they said, you know what? We hear your complaints. Let's get you away from that a little bit. Let's make sure that you have some time away from the substation and your body gets... Why don't you get on a plane for 20 hours and go to Australia? How far is Australia from... I guess California is not as far, but it's still...

46:33Sheil Kapadia:It's not a short flight. And if we're going to be honest, I understand, you know, globalization of this. We have a lot of international fans of this podcast. I'm just telling you, be careful. No, no, that's fine. I got you. I got you. Do we really need to play a game in Australia? Honestly, like, do we need a game in Australia? Like, is that super necessary to send teams to Australia?

47:00Billy Gil:Well, you could ask that about any of them, right? Like, is it super necessary to have them play in any, you know, they're playing in Paris. They're playing in Germany. They're playing all over the place.

47:11Sheil Kapadia:So, yeah. Mexico City. Mexico City. We've had Mexico City games before. Have we not? We had a Monday night. I remember we had one of the best games ever in Mexico City, right? Wasn't Rams and Chiefs a couple years ago in Mexico City, like that Monday night game that was really high scoring?

47:28Billy Gil:I think that's right.

47:29Sheil Kapadia:I think that was in Mexico City. So Mexico City, that's fine. That's not that far. Australia, like, and the same team. Like, what are we doing to the 49ers? These aren't the Jaguars. Like, the Jaguars we can send all around the world. The Jaguars are essentially a European team, right? If you were in Europe, if you lived in London, you probably think, wow, the Jaguars are one of the most popular teams in the NFL because that's the only team that you see every single season. Now the Jaguars are good, and I guess, like, yeah, we can't keep doing it to the Jaguars. So who do you do it to? We're not the 49ers.

47:59Sheil Kapadia:What do we have to do this to Kyle Shanahan for? What did he ever do?

48:03Billy Gil:Listen, our Australian listeners, I love you. I appreciate you. And I believe you deserve at least one game. A preseason game. I would have given you two if we're being honest. But yeah, I don't listen. I don't know where this is going to end. I'm happy for the fans who get to watch it. As someone who sits here on my couch and watches the games, I don't necessarily love it. But you should go.

48:27Sheil Kapadia:Yeah, I would be in on that. I'm going to put it out there, Sheel. I think this is going to be... Do we know what week it is or no?

48:34Billy Gil:No, we know they're playing the Rams in Australia. We don't know who they're playing in Mexico City. That will be in December.

48:43Sheil Kapadia:Okay. Mexico City is in December? Yes. And Australia is in September. So the Australia game then is not going to be like a Saturday night game because it's too early in the season. I'm going to go out on a limb. I'm going to say this is going to be a Sunday night or a Monday night game.

48:58Billy Gil:I bet you. There you go. You heard it from Billy first. All right. The last two headlines here, Billy, I think they're connected in my mind. And I don't know if they're connected in your mind, but let's do them together. So the first one is 49ers say they'll keep Matt Jones, but stars could be aligning for a trade. That's from Matt Barrows of The Athletic. And then the next one, this is from The Athletic. And I don't know that this is the exact headline, but this is my headline. are the Vikings done with J.J. McCarthy? Now I know what you're saying. How are those two things connected? You called your shot with the Australia game.

49:38Billy Gil:I'm calling my shot here.

49:39Sheil Kapadia:I was wrong about that, by the way. They've already said it's going to be Wednesday, September 9th or Thursday, September 10th. So it will not be a Sunday or Monday night game.

49:47Billy Gil:Listen, we all, shoot or shoot, right? Yeah, you miss 100 % of the shots you don't take.

49:53Sheil Kapadia:That's the thing about basketball. You just always got to be prepared to make the next shot, you know, even if you miss it.

49:59Billy Gil:So I'm picking you up as your teammate because you may have just missed one, but now we got the ball back and I'm calling my shot that Mac Jones will be the starter for the Minnesota Vikings in week one of the 2026 season. So I was reading all this coverage in the athletic and the 49ers like, oh, Kyle Shanahan says there are no rush to trade Mac Jones. And I actually believe him because Mac Jones is on a very cheap contract and the 49ers are trying to win a Super Bowl. And Brock Purdy has had injury issues and they just showed last year that they can win with Mac Jones. So I don't think they're actually lying there.

50:34Billy Gil:However, there's always a price where you say, oh, this team offered this. Now we actually have to consider it and have a meeting. And I'm looking at the Vikings, Billy, as maybe the most interesting team of the offseason. because Kevin O 'Connell won the power struggle over Kwesi Adolfa Mensah. O 'Connell's running the show now. He obviously wants a quarterback. They went nine and eight and their quarterback play stunk last year. So all these quarterbacks I'm looking at, would it be Kyler Murray? Maybe. Anthony Richardson, is that going to be good enough? I think Matt Jones, the Vikings might look at this and say, let's give a day two pick to the 49ers.

51:12Billy Gil:Maybe a second rounder, maybe a third rounder. That's going to be enough for them to say, hey, we can't keep a backup quarterback when we could get a second or a third round pick. And the Vikings are going to say, we don't have to pay him a lot of money. We've got a great defense. By the way, we just watched the Seahawks. Great defense, good offensive coaching, great number one wide receiver. It was good enough for them to win the Super Bowl. Kevin O 'Connell is going to say, why can't that be me? We're going to be the team that surprises everyone in 2026 with Matt Jones as our starting quarterback.

51:46Sheil Kapadia:back what do you think mac jones is interesting right we saw him last season he beat the rams in an overtime game it was a heroic game where he's vomiting on the sidelines he has a knee injury he's doing all that his first season in the league we thought okay like mac jones mac jones can do well he succeeded under josh mcdaniels he was a pro bowler i think his first season and then josh mcdaniels heads out of town and then they say you know what we're gonna bring in matt for patricia and Joe Judge will be in here. And then things fell apart. And then Bill Belichick, who's known, you know, as a teddy bear to everyone, said, you know what?

52:21Sheil Kapadia:This is, come over here, come under my wing. I will nurse you back south. No, he didn't do any of that because he's a cactus and Mac Jones situation didn't work out with Bill Belichick. So he's gone. He goes over to San Francisco and now he's just learning under Kyle Shanahan, which by the way, you alluded to this earlier or you were talking about quarterbacks on the move. And I think it was Kyle Shanahan that you said, Kyle Shanahan took a look at this quarterback. I'm so sick and tired of hearing coaches say, oh yeah, come over here. We thought about drafting you. That happened with Todd Bunkin and Shadour Sanders.

52:54Sheil Kapadia:Like, oh, we tried to get you, but now here we are. We're together again. It's like, if you really wanted that quarterback, you would have drafted that quarterback. Like you could say you were flirting with him and oh, I really wanted you, but circumstances didn't let me. Like, no, no. I have a great idea. Okay. Sorry.

53:12Billy Gil:Sometimes you bring some ideas out of me. Yeah. And I thought, this is an idea for a business or a company or the NFL or whatever to make more money where they should say, NFL coaches, assistant coaches, GM, scouts, whatever. After the draft, you may send us your actual takes. Like if you're someone who's like, I loved Patrick Mahomes in this draft. My team didn't draft him. And you send it to some organization. Maybe it's the NFL. Maybe it's a third party organization. And they keep all this stuff in a vault.

53:47Sheil Kapadia:Locked up.

53:48Billy Gil:Locked up. And then down the road, if you ever want to claim something like this or a report comes out, we go to that central organization and we look back at the date. Okay, Todd Monkett said, okay, let me look back. Did he turn anything in? And if he didn't turn anything in, then we all say, liar, you're lying. You're just hindsight. And you can't do that. Now, I think there's, I didn't really have a fully fleshed out idea there, but are there seeds of an idea there?

54:19Sheil Kapadia:There's definitely seeds. I was thinking maybe we, I think we definitely have to have the coach on a camera and we have the player on camera also. So you see it. And then you have a third party open the vault or scratch. It's like a scratch off thing and it reveals what the true feelings are. And then you have a camera on each of them while someone like a, we need like a real intellectual to read it. Someone who's not necessarily tied to the situation at all, but someone who's just like very prim and proper, just kind of reading what it is that was said about the person. And then a camera on both of them where we see what the actual thoughts were of the person at the time.

54:57Sheil Kapadia:I think there's something, let's think about this a little bit more. for a lot of money to a street.

55:02Billy Gil:Maybe Netflix. We've come up with ideas for Netflix before.

55:05Sheil Kapadia:Yeah, yeah.

55:06Billy Gil:Let's just pass this along to them.

55:09Sheil Kapadia:Yeah. So here's the thing about Mac Jones. Why would you get rid of him if you're Shanahan when you have him for so cheap? Like, what is it? Because you're going to then have to fill the backup role. We saw backups last year. Like, Jameis was getting like, I think Jameis signed like a two-year, $8 million deal, so$4 million a year. Zach Wilson, I think, signed a one-year,$8 million deal as a backup. He's a serviceable backup. And he also, from his own, like, quotes, doesn't want to go. He wants to continue to learn from Kyle Shanahan for another year, which, you don't believe him? You think he's a liar here.

55:46Sheil Kapadia:I mean, that's something you say, you know?

55:47Billy Gil:I don't think he wants to go to a terrible team, but if it was like, hey, let me go to the Vikings, I think he would probably be okay with that. But you bring up a good point.

55:55Sheil Kapadia:Would you take Mac Jones or Malik Willis? Not to connect all of our stories today, But if you had the option and it only takes you a third round pick to get Mac Jones, would you take Mac Jones?

56:07Billy Gil:I think if I were the Vikings, that's actually it. I think if I had like the system in place and the infrastructure, I want Mac Jones. So I think if I'm the Vikings, I'm like, listen, just do what I say. I'm going to tell you exactly what to do. Do it every single time repetitively. You don't have to be creative, anything like that. Then I'm taking Mac Jones. But if I'm like the Cardinals, Mac Jones doesn't get me anywhere. I would rather swing for the fences with Malik Willis.

56:32Sheil Kapadia:Here's the thing about J.J. McCarthy and the Vikings and Kevin O 'Connell that kind of stinks, right? It seems as though, if we interpreted the story correctly, the reason that J.J. McCarthy is still there and Sam Darnold is not is because it was a power struggle between their GM that has now been fired and Kevin O 'Connell and the GM won, which is why JJ McCarthy is now there. So the Vikings are now trying to figure out their own situation. And I think you even said it before, maybe the Vikings can be the Seahawks of next season. And the Vikings could have been the Seahawks of this past season had they not given up their quarterback to the Seahawks.

57:19Sheil Kapadia:So now they're going to bank on Mac Jones potentially coming in to take them to the promised land. where again, with the perfect fit, it seems like he can thrive, but is the Vikings going to be the perfect fit? I mean, you have Brian Flores' defense, which is going to be great too, and that'll help him out. And, you know, you have great receivers. He's going to have weapons there. So you're talking me into this Mac Jones to the Vikings situation a little bit.

57:46Billy Gil:Well, listen, because the Kirk Cousins thing is picking up steam, but it's like, isn't Mac Jones like a younger Kirk Cousins at his best. Yeah, Matt Jones. So I would almost say this could be a longer term fit. I just feel like the Vikings, Kevin O 'Connell is going to do something drastic this offseason. I feel like he's so annoyed that Darnold left, won a Super Bowl and he's like, it's my. And by the way, the Vikings still went nine and eight. Like if I'm O 'Connell, I'm like, we still did a great coaching job being Brian Flores. We still went nine and eight, even though we got nothing from our quarterback.

58:18Billy Gil:Well, guess what? We're going to go get our quarterback. The 90, the third round pick, 90, 82nd, 98th, something like that overall to the 49ers. Do the 49ers do it? Do you have to throw in a conditional pick? I feel like there's something there where it could make a lot of sense. Yes, the 82nd overall pick where the 49ers would say, we need to get draft capital. We need younger players. We need to get a better, you know, a younger roster where we don't have the luxury of just holding on to a backup quarterback. And also Kyle Shanahan is looking in the mirror going, please, I can find another guy who could give me Mac Jones level play.

58:55Billy Gil:You think that was him? That was all me. We don't need Mac Jones. Let's take the third round pick. So I'm calling my shot with that.

59:01Sheil Kapadia:I think if I'm Kyle Shanahan, I don't want to have quarterbacks go for me to Kevin O 'Connell that then Kevin O 'Connell can try to kind of take, you know, credit for. But also on the flip side, if you're Kevin O 'Connell, do you want to keep getting Kyle Shanahan guys that are always going to be credited with Kyle Shanahan, turn them around? because that happened with Darnold. Darnold was like, by one year with Shanahan and Purdy,

59:22Billy Gil:man, that really is what fixed me. This is a weird situation

59:26Sheil Kapadia:for the Shanahan and O 'Connell. I feel bad for Kevin O 'Connell if I'm going to be honest with you. Imagine living in a world where Sam Darnold is the one that got away.

59:34Billy Gil:That is kind of sad. All right, you convinced me. It's not great, but you know what? Now he's got his chance to right his wrong. I'm telling you, Vikings, one of the most interesting offseason teams because they're doing something at quarterback. fact. I just don't know what it is. All right. There you go. His name is Billy Gill. Those are the stories that caught our attention this week. Thank you to Billy for joining me. Thank you to Christopher Sutton for producing. Stefano Sanchez on video editing and additional production supervision by Conor Nevins and Arjuna Ramgopal. I'm Shil Kapadia. We will talk to you next time on the Ringer NFL Show.

1:00:20Billy Gil:21 plus and present in select states for Kansas in affiliation with Kansas Star Casino or 18 plus and present in DC, Kentucky, or Wyoming. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit rg-help.com. Call 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpd.org slash chat in Connecticut or visit mdgamblinghelp.org in Maryland. Hope is here. Visit gamblinghelplinema.org or call 800-327-5050 for 24-7 in support in Massachusetts or call 1-877-8HOPE-NY or text HOPE-NY in New York for Louisiana. Call 1-877-770-7867.

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