all this huge money that's being paid to the receivers.
And why is the receiver Market going haywire? Because
they're bracing for either a trade of Decay Metcalf or
similar contract. And one thing that I pointed out that I think
we need to understand here is
the salary cap is on the front end of an explosion.
The pandemic screwed everything up,
it knocked of in more ways than one, but free NFL salary.
Kept standpoint. There was a
25 million-dollar
per team difference in what the cap was versus. What it would
have been there working the way through those losses, but
the cap is back up to 2008, and it's going to keep going up and
up and up, and,
presumably sizable amounts because of the TV money
and the gambling Revenue that continues to explode.
So,
These deals are being done. Now.
They look ridiculous. And, and remember we talked about this,
just yeah, the agents like them to look, even more ridiculous
than
they do. But when we get two, three, four years out. The cap
keeps going up and up and up. And this is a problem with
having so much transparency
for what the players make,
we never hear anything about what the owners make. All we do
is see there. There 300-foot Yachts.
We never hear the dollars. The only team we have any access to
Financial information is the Green Bay Packers and they
don't have an owner that's taken all that profit
and pour it into his or her pocket. So,
the transparency with the players means, we resent,
the plays, all, they're making too much money. They don't deserve
it. No, they do. They, they do deserve it. The team's wouldn't
be giving it to them. If they didn't deserve it. The team's
wouldn't be giving it to
them if they couldn't afford it.
And the reason the numbers are so nutty now is because 208 is
going to become 230 is going to be up to 50, right? Come 300.
Yes, million per team per year.
You're the salary cap was like 40 million
per team. It's going to be 300.
Before the end of the decade. I guaranteed actions. How quickly
does it get to 300. Yeah, I mean
that seems to be a league-wide sentiment that you're saying
here and sharing with everybody. Everybody kind of
has that feel that? Yes, the that's about to explode
you know with you said it right. And look at how popular
it was back, you know, on TV again this year in the NFL, it
killed it.
I mean it killed it rating.
Galore everywhere, didn't matter
what time frame, whatever it killed it. So
from that standpoint, and you said the gambling and all that.
Yes. The money is is I would expect some huge jumps here in
the next few years to you're right. Like for I would think
we'd get to 300 million maybe before the decades over
at least the way it seems like it's setting up. But yeah, it's
not it's not as big as money as everybody thinks and
the contracts aren't what everybody thinks and you're right. It
would be great to hear like
Oh, yeah, they're paying
the best player in the best. Receiver in football, 27
million dollars a year, but oh don't forget the owner pocketed
495 Million last year and took that home with them. I mean,
come on. I mean that's that's the kind of prices were talking
about here,
300-400 million when the owners are,
you know, taken taken from themselves and rightly. So
I get that. But you're right, it would help public sentiment of
people knew those numbers a little bit
from 2013 to 2020. The cap went from 100.
23 million per team
to 198 million per team, 75 million per team.
In a seven-year span
21 is when it took a drop
due to the pandemic. But now it's back north of where it was
in 2020. It's at 208 and I just think we're going to keep
seeing this acceleration. And, yeah, it's going to hit 300.
Well before the end of the decade. Well before. Yeah.
Thanks to gambling.
Thanks to the TV deals.
And the NFL is the one thing that can pull together
an audience of 20 to 30. Million people live real time right
now, play a game and you get millions to stop what they're
doing and focus in a world where people are
fractured into every possible thing that you could do at any
given time, whether you're listening to music, whether
you're reading a podcast, whether you're watching this
show
on Netflix or that show on peacock or this show on Hulu
and your this series, or this movie or whatever, or or
possibly reading a book, maybe Playmakers witch. Fewer and
fewer people are doing as I've. I've learned as I learn more
about the publishing industry, but I digress.
The reality is there's one thing
that can pull a huge audience together,
one thing and it's the NFL. So yes, it's going to make more
money. The players are going to make more money. Don't get mad
at the Players because they're making more money. Don't get
mad at them.
That's the reality and right now the receiver Market is hot.
You know, Chris. I was trying to reconcile this with Shereen
yesterday on PFT p.m. Let's talk about this for a sec.
Yeah.
Receivers,
who are proven, who are established among the best in
the game are making gigantic money. They're getting closer
and closer to 30 million a year,
even though there is a fresh Supply every year of great
young receivers. It's kind of like the running back position,
but the receivers, unlike the running backs are getting
gigantic money. The best of the best teams aren't saying, our
not going to pay him.
We'll just go draft somebody. It's a
weird. And and distinction between two positions that are
becoming very much alike because of the supply, every
year
of new guys who can do what the older, very expensive, guys,
can do.
Why are they so expensive? Yeah, when there are these
younger guys that are coming in, the can do the same thing.
It's a weird dynamic. That's been punctuated this year by
Davante Adams Tyree. Kill Stefon Diggs. Yeah.
Now this expectation, the DK Metcalf and AJ Brown are going
to get that money. It's hard to reconcile because one of these
teams eventually is going to say, screw it. We'll just mad
that. Maybe that's what the Packers did.
See for every team that says, yeah, come on. Bring him
like the Raiders and the dolphins with Adams. And he'll
you got the Packers and the Chiefs and we'll take the draft
picks and go get the young guy. Well, you're right. You're
right. I mean, there's definitely that aspect. I think
there's a few things that come
into play here. It's a good conversation. It really is
first off wide receiver. There's more of a shelf life, right? So
there's going to be
more willingness to throw money at them because And
wait, you know, we think this guy, you know, not only got
some, a bunch of years left in him, but he's gonna stay
healthy to the injury rate, getting banged up, losing
speed,
losing power because of the crushing, the crushing hits
the running backs. Always take. It takes a big toll. So I think
that's part of the reason too. And then I think also make
the value of the wide receiver
is, is really propped up. By the way. The NFL is set up
right now. That's the biggest thing. It's the old adage of,
you know, defense wins. Is championships and you know, you
got to run the ball and the playoffs like that craps done.
Not no more, not anymore. Yeah.
Sure that helps and there's years. That'll
certainly may be true.
But again, we just watched two teams, get in the Super Bowl
with high-powered, passing offenses that, you know, hey,
we got a problem here in a problem here, but it doesn't
matter. You can't cover this guy who sings on zoom and we're
gonna throw the ball over the field on, you
know, so that's where I think the value has gotten because
I think teams have looked at and go. Whoa, you get to game.
Breaking receivers on your team
and all of a sudden you have an elite unit
and all the sudden. We got a really damn good team and we're
hard to beat, no matter what the circumstances are with good
receivers, good quarterback in the way. The rules are set up.
I think that would be
without thinking about it a whole lot and I probably have
more thoughts on this. That would be my first few thoughts
at least Mike. Does that make sense to you at all?
Well, it does in the one thing I thought of is the fact that
you have much more wear and tear on the running backs,
exact car crashes. They, they burn out faster than
the receiver. Yeah.
But from a purely
dollars and cents
value
judgment standpoint. The idea that you can go find plenty of
young receivers who can come in and have an impact, you know,
how many teams
and this goes back to the old conversation about guys like
Terrell Owens and Randy Moss. How many teams win Super Bowls
with true? Number one top of the league receivers?
How many actually do it? Not many?
Yeah, not many win it with the absolute best game breaking
receive. The NFL on the field and yes, we saw the chief
steward a couple
of years ago. Yeah,
but but Rams last year, I mean, you know and the Rams with
Cooper cop. Yeah chip. No, but it's changing. I think that's
to your
point is changing the lit sad, it's different now, I think
that's what it is. And it's not about we're just going to pay
this one running back. It's going go. We want a receiver
that can fly down the field and run deep and oh damn wait,
there's another one that's
specialized and running these five and eight yard. Rosen is
really quick out of his brakes and he's smart. Well, he's not
the Superstar. The guy that can go deep is that we're going to
pay 25 million. But damn, this is an important
thing for are often. So we're gonna pay him 15 or 16 million,
right? So that's I think that's another aspect to. There's
a little bit. There's a few other ways to do it at the position
and get money that way as well, which might add to the value of
the market and the overall number of receivers altogether
too.
By the way, Cooper cup may want to begin leaking. The idea that
he's considering retirement or going to Amazon to
An on-air talent because he needs some leverage. He's
making fourteen point eight, seven, five million
this year. Fourteen point six two, five million next year.
He's got two years left on his contract. He only did
a three-year extension, which was really smart from his
perspective
because he's in about half of the market right now. I think
the Rams. Yeah,
they need, they're doing good there
and need to go back to the couch, cushions on the
Stan. Kroenke. Super Yachts are no good. Ground for some money.
No doubt, but hey, Rams bucks Chiefs. Well, there's three
Super Bowl champs in a row, where you go. Oh, no, there was
substantially. Something about the offense in the receivers
and now so that, you know, again, I think there's a little
bit of a sign of the times and how things are changing to
a little bit there to the value of it. But it's a good
conversation. There's no doubt about that.
Where's the other side of it too? Though? There's a lot more
great receivers in there used to be, there. Is, there
definitely is, you know, but I think we're seeing that.
Others. There is a
unlike the quarterbacks. We're seeing a true pecking order
at wide receiver to a degree as far as like, oh wait. These are
Superstar guys. Oh, these are number two, guys. Oh, this guy
is just a slot guy. All of that. So there are different
tiers
in that too. But
you're right. I mean, we got a ton of talented guys, coming
out every year. And you know, the tie, this all together
a little too, with the Jets. Mike and what we're talking about
here. This is the other thing. I just wanted to bring up about
this.
Obviously, the Jets don't love. Any receiver at number 10, and
they pretty much made that clear over the last like, week
or so, and at least, there's no one in there that they're just
going. Hey, well good. We're good. We'll just sit here and
wait, again.
I think the receiving class is a hair overrated this year.
I do, I said that to you, I think last week, but I do find that
interesting to their kind of sitting in the range of. You
can have any receiver you want. Nobody's being looked at
as a top ten pick.
So you're going to have maybe the first guy off the board,
whoever it is, and they don't seem to fancy anybody as of
right now. They'd rather have that proven commodity that you
talked about so much.
I don't want the first receiver off the board and round one.
I think that's the case. Yes. I want a guy. I want a second
round who comes into the NFL with a chip on his shoulder and
a stick up his butt and he's
working even harder to prove that. He should have been
a first round of the Michael Thomas effect. That's what
I want. You look at AJ, Brown Depot Samuel. D k Metcalf. They
were all second-round picks in 2019. Yeah,
that extra little boost. I know Jamar Chase turned out fine.
Get them be. Pete, Pete selling them here. Shut up, Pete,
shut up, Pete, Henry rugs, and we rugs wasn't a great receiver
before he had completely different issues that wash them
out of the League's,
right? There's you you
and you get them cheaper to if you get them in second and
third round, I mean there's there's something to be said,
just like with running back. Yeah, because there's so many
of them do not rush to get one. Unless you do get a great guy,
like Jim or chase last
year by The Bangles Pete. I stand or sit
corrected.