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Speaker 4: Hey, howdy ho, lions fans. Welcome to the Detroit lions podcast, episode 606. It is all about where do the lions stand right now? A little bit of taking stock because there's some news going around and talk going around. And I've got some thoughts about where this team is. I know you do too, Riz. You've been doing a great job in the dailies. Let's let folks know. I'm your dashing host, Chris. Dashing is the least you could say. And with me is my equally dashing and handsome as hell cohost, Jeff the Riz Rizden. How you doing, brother?

Speaker 5: We're together on a Saturday afternoon. It's awesome. Life could not be better.

Speaker 4: Coffee instead of beer today, my friend. Wow. This is gonna be an interesting show. I'm,

Speaker 5: I'm on the the, seven eleven diet. Replenish zero fruit punch. They didn't have the cucumber lime in the zero. So

Speaker 4: After last night, I should be. As I told you beforehand, I hurt myself last night while drinking and doing Yeah. Poor decision making.

Speaker 5: Drinking athletics are never a good idea, especially when you get to a certain age and we are well past that age, my friend.

Speaker 4: Yeah. Like, the whole do reps till failure is a lot longer when you don't feel shit. Yeah. Yeah. Failure happens the next day. Anyway, let's talk about this. We got a lot to talk about today. We're gonna talk about Tarion's troubles, Brad's boring bit, ranking the the the the meeting draft needs, and Decker's, Snafu, and a whole lot more. Mister Risdon, there's a lot of topics here today, and there's a lot there's a lot of open space to talk about these topics.

Speaker 5: There's a lot going on for it being the middle of June or March. We're in March, like, a month out from the draft. And Yes. We're barely talking about the draft because it's, like, tertiary to the Lions conversation right now, which is

Speaker 4: Tertiary. Yeah. Oh, man. Let's see. We got a lot of quick comments coming in. You folks, nice to see you all. Thank you for joining us today. It's great to have you aboard. Okay. Let's get into this. Terryon's troubles, my friend.

Speaker 5: Alright.

Speaker 4: Set this up. What is Terryon doing? I mean, I thought he was just covering people and recovering from an injury.

Speaker 3: So, well, let's hope let's hope

Speaker 5: that's still happening as well. He's in some legal, I don't wanna call it hot water because that's not exactly accurate. It's there are clouds around, to carry on Arnold, involving an incident that he may or may not be tangentially attached to that evolved,

Speaker 4: Those are big words.

Speaker 5: Yeah. People that he's, associated with, doing some unsavory acts towards people who had wronged him and them. And he got mentioned in some some text messages. Never firsthand participated in them, but, hopefully, you know, the look. It's it's a weird situation. The the long and the short of it is there are stuff going down around him, and there are a lot of people who are trying to rope him into what's going on around him, and they might might might have a leg to stand on.

Speaker 4: Uh-huh. I don't know that

Speaker 5: they do, but the lions are basically like, well, we're not gonna say shit until we find anything out, whether he's charged or not. And to this point, he's not been charged by the prosecutors. It doesn't seem like it will be either, but, you know, it it's sort of like remember the J Mo situation where he had the gun in the car? And, like, he wasn't doing anything wrong, but just the fact that there's that we have to talk about it is bad for him and bad for business, for him and the lions. That's sort of where I'm at with Terry on right now. Like, I don't think he really did anything wrong. I don't think he's gonna get in trouble by the NFL, but this is, like, a headache that he doesn't need, the team doesn't need, and, you know, the NFL really doesn't need if you look at it a broader thing.

Speaker 4: I'll tell you. Oh, go ahead.

Speaker 5: It's sorry. It's it's just tell me where you're at because I'm I'm I'm frustrated with the entire situation.

Speaker 4: Yeah. I think the concern for the lions isn't does Tarion go to jail. I I I don't that's that's not gonna happen. There's enough obfuscation here at all. I think the real concern is, does he miss time in '26 due to a suspension? And that you know, again, I saw who was it? Someone said it as a protectors. Yeah. Silent service. Are you bubble head? Silent service? I I think that, protecting the shield is the big thing, and they don't need investigations. The shield, boss. They don't need investigations. They don't need convictions. They act on their own. We're already thin with Branch and Joseph out. We've talked about this. This will lead into our draft talk later. I think it's, like, a four to six game suspension for this. Third, the secondary is, like, in crisis. It's it's a real freaking problem. And, the the whole draft calculus changes. You know what I mean? Will we know his fate before the draft? Is this gonna be another Ragnos kinda deal this time at the the decision of the NFL, meaning Ragnos didn't tell anybody until after the draft what they were gonna do, what he was gonna do, and left the lions hanging because they expected him back based on their conversations. Now we're in a position here where, Terry, do we find out we need a quarterback in June? Right. This is this is the this is the key fucking bullshittery of this. Right? You're an NFL player. You gotta be an NFL player. You can't be the other thing I'll say, Florida man gets a lot of rap. I think Florida man is people that move here who, can't handle the freedom.

Speaker 5: Like you.

Speaker 4: You get no sale no, income tax. You got coming soon, no property tax. You got free college tuition for your kids, and you can pretty much do anything. And it's the people that come here that haven't been beaten down by their their keepers that get a little bit wild, a little bit crazy, and a little bit stupid. Florida man isn't from Florida. He's like me. He's from somewhere else. So silliness aside. Right? I'm I'm just messing around. Why is it everything happens here in Tampa too? Like, all this shit. Like, carry on. Who was it? Just down the that that had the problems. That was it two years ago. Down, like, in Odessa. Just over here.

Speaker 5: Look at that. I called Davis?

Speaker 4: Yes. Yes.

Speaker 5: Was that his thing? Yeah.

Speaker 4: Oh my god. Yeah. Don't come to Tampa, people. Please. It's not good for you.

Speaker 5: And it won't be there next week. Spring break. Woo hoo.

Speaker 4: Well St.

Speaker 5: Pete Beach, baby.

Speaker 4: Yeah. Oddly, I won't be. I know that. Anyway, that's I was

Speaker 5: he was Tampa. It was not Carlton Davis. Carlton Davis was was a guy. Yes. Yes. He played in Tampa. That's what made me think of it.

Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. This is this is really crazy though, man, because you don't you had to really screw up to go to jail if you're in NFL, in the NFL. Right? But the the the shields, Goodell and and crew has they take delight in causing teams chaos because that chaos is all money. It's all press. It's all draws people into the reality show that they they're running. Yeah.

Speaker 5: While I disagree with the statement, I do think that they believe that there is no such publicity as bad publicity. Their bad publicity is not a thing. Like, you it's all good. It's all beneficial to your bottom line. I I vehemently disagree with that, but that it does seem to make sense in

Speaker 4: this Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's my take. What about you, Riz? I mean, you look at this. You see what's going on. I mean, number one, I know I know where you're at. I I as a dad who's got a son close to Tarion's age I mean, the first the first thing that if this happened, I mean, I would ask my son, what the fuck were you thinking? Like, I mean, like, you know what I mean? Like Yeah. The dumbest shit you've ever done. But

Speaker 5: It's I I do want to believe Therion's side of the story because he does he is a guy who like, he's he's not afraid to speak his mind, and, like, it will free flow. Like, we we've learned that in the two years that he's been in Detroit. Like, okay. He might give you something when you're talking to him after a game. A lot of guys are, you know, very that that's one of the reasons why you never see postgame interviews with guys like Jack Campbell or Sam Laporta because they they know how to button it up. Terryon's not exactly like that. So, you know, I don't I don't know, man. It's there are so there's so much he said, she said. And the fact that the prosecutor hasn't done anything, it's been, what, five weeks now since it happened. They've had so what happened and why this is pertinent for today? No one Beyonce from the Detroit News filed a freedom of of information act report to get the stuff the police records that the prosecutor had in the case, and he reported that, I believe, it was on Thursday. Might have been Friday. And it was seen in the larger lion's land as breaking news when it's in fact, like, this has all been known for some time, for a month at least. And now it feels like it's more out there in the collective consciousness. And now, with what happened in the last twenty four hours, it's sort of washed away. But, you know, it's it is something that, you know, you don't like having legal gray areas or any gray areas surrounding any of your players entering this portion of the season, the off season. Like like you said to your point, Chris, they they might have to it might impact their draft plan. If he's if they know he's gonna be gone for four to six weeks of the season, it might impact their long term vision of what Tarion is. Do we wanna keep this guy who has hurt our team by being selfish and, you know, going off the field?

Speaker 4: Yeah. Well, let me let me throw something else at you because here's where, like this this actually kinda sucks because if you're the lions, you wanna punish him for this kind of behavior to help him realize, don't do this shit, dumbass.

Speaker 5: Right.

Speaker 4: Don't get involved. Don't even get close to this dumb shit. But if you do, someone else will pay him more money when it's contract time. You know what I mean? Someone else will say, oh, we'll take the floor. There's no real downside for a player to do stupid shit unless they go to jail. You know what I mean? And it's it's it's probably one of the most frustrating parts. Yeah. Oh, Jesus. It's one of the most frustrating parts as I look at this. You have you have responsibility to your contract and to your team. Your team has responsibility to you. The whole keep you healthy, help you heal if you get hurt, make sure you get paid on time. Like, all the stuff that the team has to do to uphold this part of the the bargain. You have to play good football, which is not easy. The rest of the stuff you have to do is real easy. Don't go to jail. Like, don't get fucked up with stupid situations because you're making bad decisions to hang out with dumb people. That's this is the thing that's the most frustrating part. This is the simple stuff for these guys. It seems like, and they yet they cannot make a decision to help themselves, their career, or the fucking team they play for. And it just shows how mercenary I think the whole concept of being a football player in the NFL is.

Speaker 5: Yeah. It's to me, it's it's similar to, like, you know, don't go skiing when you've got a bad knee. You know? Don't don't be Lindsey Vonn. You know? Be smarter than that. If you're an NFL player, you understand that your body is your livelihood. Don't do anything stupid to risk it. Don't play with fireworks on the July 4, JPP. You know? Don't don't pee over the balcony at a at the Grand Traverse Inn and accidentally pee on a cop, bullo brother. Be smarter than that.

Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah. So there we are. That's that's where Terryon sits right now. A lot up in the air. Some poor choices got him to a spot where he's gotta navigate out of, and it's it it sucks. It's just Chris,

Speaker 5: I don't I don't think that anything's gonna come of this that will make the lions like, impact the lions. Do you? Like, I I think legally

Speaker 4: I worry.

Speaker 5: No. I think I think he's clear.

Speaker 4: Yeah. I don't think he's going to jail. Right? Unless the magic video pops up. Right? Which which happens sometimes. But, they have texts where he's being talked about, but nothing where he's in, like, actually taking part of. But the NFL, man, they're they're the wild card here. And and, frankly, they love messing with the story in Detroit. I mean, that it it's it's, J Mo and the and the gambling thing. Like, come on. Like, they they got they got worried about that for a real short period of time, and then, you know, other people are doing this dumb shit. Right? There's a couple guys all of a sudden that did and then no one does it. Bullshit. Bullshit. Right?

Speaker 5: Yeah. They they made an example of it.

Speaker 4: Yeah. And they selectively enforce, and they love to do that. They love that story in Detroit. They love to play that story. And that's one of the things, you know, that the the lines are gonna have to overcome. They can't do stupid shit. And then I think that's one of the things why the character piece that Brad's so concerned about matters. So there you are. That's where that's where I stand at

Speaker 5: least. Ugh.

Speaker 4: At the East.

Speaker 5: No one nobody really cares about that anymore because of what's going on with with Brad and Dan and Decker.

Speaker 4: Well, let's get into a little bit of Brad. Alright. Brad joined mister Justin on the, the collective thing and talked about mister Orem. Let's let's you and I talk about this a little bit because I think this is, an interesting I think I I have some thoughts. I think it's an interesting conversation. I think it's a lot more than people are thinking of is coming out of this, but go ahead and start.

Speaker 5: So the, in his meeting with the Alliance Collective, you know, Colton and and Birchey and and Jeff, and Justin, the biggest takeaway that I had from it, like, from, like, something that I might not have known beforehand was how much Brad Holmes believes in Larry Borom as a potential starting right tackle, if not their outright starting right tackle. Because he talked to him pretty for for Brad. Brad's pretty reserved

Speaker 4: on He told on himself. Right? He told on

Speaker 5: But there there was clear, like, inflection in his voice when he talked about the idea that Larry could start at right tackle.

Speaker 4: Mhmm.

Speaker 5: And I still and I've said this on multiple shows and platforms. I still cannot unsee the two joint practices last year where he was directly responsible for the Hutch rule because he had no prayer against Aidan Hutchinson. None. Like, it it it was like watching him play a middle schooler. It really was. And I I can't I have to come to terms with that. I have to that that's a me thing. But I wasn't the only one there. And we were all thinking when we were there, like, they they're cutting this guy. Right? And now now he is our apparent answer as a starting right tackle, at least to start the year. And the way that you know? And and, like, Brett, to be fair to Brett, like, Borat did play better at right tackle in Miami than he had ever shown at any other position in his four years in Chicago.

Speaker 4: Yeah.

Speaker 5: 100% on board with that. No no no doubt about that. And as I've said on the daily, the fact that Borom got zero coaching in Miami, almost negative coaching from McDaniel. Again, I will reinforce. The alliance could not have made a worse move this off season than hiring Mike McDaniel as our offensive coordinator. That would have been the end of everything. I absolutely 100% believe that. Back to Borom. I'm gonna try to give him the benefit of the doubt. I really am. Because I wanna like it, and I want it to work. I do. I really want it to work. But if they go in and they don't draft let's say they don't draft Caleb Lomu or Blake Miller, and they take a lower rated prospect at edge or, God forbid, linebacker or cornerback.

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Speaker 5: Because they have Larry Borom in on a one year deal, I don't think they're gonna I don't think they're gonna do this, by the way. But it would be very easy to spin the story, and I might spin it that way if it happens, that they elected to they thought that Larry Borom was gonna be okay enough that we eschewed five years of Caleb Blomove for five years of a guy who's gonna be our number two linebacker at best, our number three cornerback at best, And I don't wanna have to do that. But I'm worried now that they do see Borom as a long term solution or at least a 2026 solution. And I hadn't really had that worry before. And that it it worries me, Chris. Yeah.

Speaker 4: So this is so the real question is, do you trust Holmes' evaluation of Borom? Borom. What do you trust

Speaker 5: Not really.

Speaker 4: Brad's evaluation? And that's going to be key. Hopefully, Brad's evaluation is informed by the likes of Hank Fraley and Dan Campbell because they would be good judges of talent, especially in a in a in a role like that. But are we are we, like the gap between, like, a full season grade and weeks five to eighteen in past blocking is worth kind of pulling apart. Right? Mhmm. Was it a scheme fit issue, an adjustment period, or are we just looking at the good stuff? Are we leaning into the good stuff? Right? Like I said, Brad Brad totally totaled himself. I I think you a 5,000,000 one year deal for a right tackle, and you just have the twinkle in your eye, your heart palpitating, and you start singing love songs. It could be a smokescreen. I'll I'll put that out there. I don't know if if Holmes is that good at selling a smokescreen, to be honest with you. I think that

Speaker 5: they I don't think they do them. I really don't.

Speaker 4: That very well could be because they've always told us the truth. Right? That's that's the thing they tell us, but we just don't understand so much. But if you say, okay, you've got a right tackle here that you love. That means Sewell's moving. Right? That means you have your left tackle already. And then that means you've got your choice already set up for you at seventeen when you pick. You're going edge. Right? I mean, the three things you need is Got it. Edge, offensive tackle, and safety. Right? Those are the three places you're the most need the most pain. Yes. If you've got a guy that you can ride for a year or that you believe you can ride for a year and switch your lineup and then you're good to go, then you're going straight to edge. And to be honest, with the Tarion news, get an edge. Get a fucking edge because if Tarion's out

Speaker 5: How do you help with dilapidated secondary? You get you get a better pass rush.

Speaker 4: You get pressure. Yep. Yeah. And with with corner being dodgy, with safety being dodgy, your whole secondary is kind of in a tough spot. Yeah. You historically, in the last two years haven't three, haven't generated pass rush in in in sacks in the way that you need to. Edge can fix two and three missing positions in the backfield. Make them not have to cover for five minutes. Give them give the quarterback three seconds to make a decision, and that's it. That's what you need is that kind of pressure, and you need that fear in the quarterback's head that somebody's gonna get to them. So I think what's happening, it's kind of two things. It's setting up and kinda telling on himself on what the draft thinking is, but it also might be a little bit of Brad romanticizing for, for the just that, okay. I've got that covered. I can go to Edge. You know what I mean? He's he's telling on him. He's lying to himself a little bit. Now maybe he really sees it. Maybe he does. Maybe he's just wishful thinking. I don't know. But that does I mean, we got it's a deep tackle draft. Right?

Speaker 5: It is.

Speaker 4: You can get a tackle, two, three, that you can grow, hopefully, into that position for next year. I think this buys you that.

Speaker 5: And that's

Speaker 4: But that really doesn't help you. If he doesn't play, that screws you on thinking that this is gonna be a year where the lions actually make a run again. And that's this is the most frustrating part of the team. I'm getting and this is this is this is pessimistic, Chris. People aren't used to this. After the last couple years, the whole idea of building for the long term and build we have lost so much in this off season that I'm finding it really hard to believe that this team is truly going to compete this year. I hope I'm wrong. I hope the fuck I'm wrong. But I'm I'm having a really hard time thinking that we could go all the way or deep into the playoffs this year just with how the personnel situation is. And the injuries on top of the leaving, on top of what do we have now and only so many picks. That's my unfortunate kinda feeling right now. I hope I'm wrong.

Speaker 5: So I'm not I'm not that upset by anybody who left, really. I I don't think they're gonna miss much. There there's a downgrade at from Montgomery to Pacheco, but not a radical one. Not enough that I'm gonna, like, drop the the wind projection two two games.

Speaker 4: Right.

Speaker 5: But, yeah, I I my thing so and my my pragmatist at heart and optimist thinks that, okay, maybe maybe Boron was a placeholder, and you draft a more developmental type of tackle that you wanna bring along and trust him to Hank Vraley to to develop him into a starter in a year. Well, probably a year, maybe less than a year. And there are some guys in this draft who fit that. I wrote about two of them specifically, in a piece that published this morning on the DLP, an offensive tackle for every round.

Speaker 4: Who's killing it on the DLP, folks?

Speaker 5: Who's fucking killing it? With that?

Speaker 4: It's the Riz. The Riz. So that

Speaker 5: that got that got posted this morning. Please check it out. It's it's on there. It is written content. Give little scouting reports for, you know, pros and cons for each guy. And if that's their plan, okay. Like, I'm I'm good with that. But I used to know that that's their plan, and I need to know that they're not going I don't know. I have a hard time like, if they're going to take leaving good offensive tackles long term solutions on the board at 17 because you're because you don't necessarily need that as immediately as you need a different position. That's where mistakes happen. And while Brad has generally been pretty good about those things, we have seen his impetuousness in the form of Giovanni Manu, who, by the way, was drafted two years ago in that very position to be a potential starter by now. And we don't even know if he's gonna be number three this year. He might not even be number four this year. Yeah. We've seen him fall in love with developmental projects, Roderick Martin, you know, that that Colby Sorsdell, that the the the they don't work. Like, you know, maybe he's overestimating how much Hank Frehley can do with some of these talents.

Speaker 4: Oh, I hate to think that. Frazier, by

Speaker 5: the way. I I and this is one thing that I wish the Lions Collective would have asked because if I were in that room, I would have asked about Miles Frasier. Because I don't think anybody and, by the way, that might include Miles, knows what the plan is with Miles Frasier for 2026. Is he gonna play guard where he's in a massive log jam right now? Like, that that that's one of my off season takeaways. I talked about this a little bit of the deal the other day. Like, they have a zero need to draft any interior offensive lineman right now. They are going to cut at least one guy that they signed this off season, if not two, because there just isn't room on the roster for them. Like so does that mean that

Speaker 4: you

Speaker 5: envision Frazier as a tackle, which I'm good with. Like, I I think he's better tackle than guard prospect, but we don't know that. And not knowing that, that does lead to my fears that they do see Borom as more than just a temporary placeholder until either Frazier gets up to speed or Markel Bell or Travis Burke come along and show that they can displace, you know, the incumbent right tackle while Panay moves to the left. Like, that that that worries me, Chris. No.

Speaker 4: I think so I'm gonna hit really quick. The there's a Don Burr. Is Vicky considered a development player? Yeah. Well, every every player is, actually. I mean, even Decker last year was a development player because nobody is frankly perfect. It's how far to their ceiling can they be developed. Like, the gap between where they're at and where their ceiling is is really different. But every player because if they weren't, you wouldn't need them to practice. You wouldn't have them at practice. Right? So I know that's a whatever, the answer. But he's

Speaker 5: playing Because he was making because Bakki was making a position switch specifically, he is definitely a developmental prospect. And thus far, we've seen almost, I won't say negative development in terms of his abilities as a running back, but he's not better now than he was when he got here as running back. And I don't like, if he was ready to ascend to number two or even number three, I don't think they would have signed Jose Pacheco, but they're not there with that. The thing is is Although Pacheco was cheap, so maybe not. Pacheco's a great signing goal. Yeah. I love that.

Speaker 4: Love that. On defense, okay, this is this is the Bob Quinn methodology, right, where you get rid of a good player and you bring in a worse player. Right? Now with with Quinn, you paid more for the worst player. But you have a guy in AQM who had 11 sacks last year, and you let him walk and you replace him with one of them Mhmm. On a $2,000,000, $2,300,000 deal. This to me is malpractice. Not that I not that AQM is, like, the best player in the league, but a guy coming off an 11 sack season, you've just created a gap on a line that already had gaps. You don't have that rotational player that can keep the pressure. So now maybe you draft a superstar, a a Hutch two. Right? Neither one of them are playing all plays. So you're gonna have plays or you're gonna have to rely on that secondary, which you're not gonna be able to build build. You don't have enough draft capital. And even if you do, secondary players first year are it's a learning year. It's an absolute learning year. This is my fear. It's, again, the defense. Again, it's a it's it's a big problem. I I think even with, more, it's gonna be fine. I think Goff is a smart player. He's gonna know what's going on with him. He'll be able to get rid of the ball. I think between Petz and Dan and crew, they'll be able to scheme things okay around that. They're gonna be fine with with that. It won't be great, to be fair, but they'll be fine with that. The defense, I'm terrified of what we're looking at. I really, really am because we had light pressure last year, and you got rid of one of your best sack guys, but other than Hutch, and you left yourself with your your pud in your hands. So

Speaker 5: Yeah. I probably think higher of one of them than you do. But I also I agree with their assessment that AQM wasn't gonna do it again. And for the money that he got, he needed to go.

Speaker 4: That's right.

Speaker 5: I would I would not have paid him what

Speaker 4: what he thought. So to be fair, I'm not saying pay him. Right? But Right. You absolutely downgraded that position.

Speaker 5: I'm not sure that they did that much. With what? Yeah. What what well, presuming that you're getting the DJ one that was healthy, which

Speaker 4: That's a that's a lion's presumption. Write that one. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 5: So I and I'm not trying

Speaker 4: to be a, like, a negative Nancy here. I I apologize. Like, folks probably aren't used to me being a little bit down on the team right now, but I've I've got this pessimistic streak in me right now. There's a lot going on. It's probably just passing, but I'm I'm kinda looking at it from that angle right now. I don't

Speaker 5: The the other issue with that though is they're they need they need less Hutch. Hutch can't play 92% of the snaps again. Right. He needs to be down to no more than 80% of the snaps. Like, they're they're going to run him into the ground. Mhmm. There there there is a diminish point of diminishing returns with how often you leave him on the field. As great as he is, as awesome as his effort is and his motor and his conditioning is, it does show. It really does. Like, you can see it. Like, he's just not as impactful on play 70 of a game as he is on play seven or 27. Who would be? And that they have So I'm like, I think they need to add much more at edge. I'm hopeful I'm hopeful that they take two of them. One with either their first or second pick and another one, you know, it's a decent year to need a guy in the middle rounds who might be able to be a designated pass rush specialist in the way that they had James Houston for the eight games where his head was on straight and he was healthy. That that they can use that guy.

Speaker 4: And and

Speaker 5: there there are those guys exist in every draft. They they certainly exist in this one. But, you know, that they are they're not yeah. Combined with the questions and the secondary, primarily with the health of the safeties, I'm not I actually think the cornerback room, presuming Terryon is okay, is in pretty darn good shape. DJ Reed, Terryon Arnold,

Speaker 4: I will call

Speaker 5: for McCreery as a slot. I think he's gonna be great. Yeah. He he he's a very he is an upgrade coverage wise over Amik. He is not as aggressive against the run, and he's not as as good of a playmaker with the ball in the air, but he's gonna cover guys better. We've we've seen that. I think Raq Yesen coming back was a shrewd move.

Speaker 4: Yeah. I think he

Speaker 5: buy you buy you a couple of starts if you need him. And I'm still not like, I still wanna see more of Nick Whiteside. I like what I saw from him last summer and the brief time we saw him last year. Like, that guy could play a little bit.

Speaker 4: I wanna see the Yasin, of the the the growth curve he's had. I want that growth curve as as a player, but I want the mouth of Yasen from senior bowl man. That guy, I I I fell in love with him there. I thought he was fantastically fun. It means a lot. It means a lot.

Speaker 5: He was loquacious. Yeah. He had he had some Don King to him.

Speaker 4: If if he was a band, he would be in a band called loquacious d. Right? Yes. Very much so.

Speaker 5: And who knows what's going with MS Rick Straw? Maybe he'll he's he claims he's healthy. But that that He

Speaker 4: was working out on Instagram.

Speaker 5: So I'd like to see it. I really would because he's in. He so fits what the lions want, but he's just gotta he does thus far, he hasn't shown that he has the body that's capable of playing in the NFL. It would be fun to see if he could be in there. I I actually think that quarterback is probably, with wide receiver, their strongest position from top to bottom right

Speaker 4: now. Yeah. And I know

Speaker 5: a lot of people are like, holy shit. Our corners are terrible. Well, there's functions for that. Some of it is what Chris alluded to earlier that we don't get pressure enough. We don't get pressure quick enough. And when we were playing our backup safeties for most of last season, our safeties were good enough to cover when the cornerbacks got beat. And when Branch and especially Kirby are healthy and playing well, that kinda goes away.

Speaker 4: Yeah.

Speaker 5: So I feel pretty good about the quarterback. Now having said that, would I be upset if they drafted Davion Terrell? Nope. Good player. Good player.

Speaker 4: And you can never have too many cornerbacks. I I I I advocate finding another position on the roster and and eliminating one to keep an extra quarterback because they always get hurt.

Speaker 5: Yeah. Always.

Speaker 4: Yeah. I love Brett Layton's take here. And I would do an impression, but there's so much. You have to put so much in, into a Bruce Buffer impression that I'm not I'm I'm not gonna do that today. Oh, god. But the Egyptian tactician, the Motor City mummy, the killer from Cairo, the Hasanid himself, Ahmed Hasanid. Love. He's the story that's gonna be a fun one to watch. If he blows up and is all the things that people hope and dream of, it's a hell of a story, man. It's that's a hell of a story. It's completely possible too. That's that's the thing. Like, his ceiling is is such that he could become a monster in this league, And he's got the right attitude. He's got all the pieces to it. I hope I hope for him, for the Lions, for fans that he really does show up and become that guy, man. It would be fan fantastic. Not sure it's gonna happen, but god, I hope so.

Speaker 5: It would be nice. I'm good with him being number four edge as a developmental guy that that has some upside. That would be great. Beyond that, you're probably asking more than he's ever shown that he can do. But the upside is certainly there, and I am definitely gonna be rooting for him.

Speaker 4: Well, let's talk about the draft a little bit, Rizdon. Alright. Mister Rizzi. What was it? Oh, Giuseppe Rizzone. I love giving you so many names, dude. It's it's

Speaker 5: I'm not Italian.

Speaker 4: It is it is a sign of love. I I promise you. Alright, Giuseppe. Let's talk about the draft needs. Where is this team right now as things are kinda playing out? It Yeah. The the calculus in the draft is changing. It's evolving. Where do you sit and what do you think about, where the team is and and what the moves are, say, top two, three?

Speaker 5: Yeah. So we've talked about it. They they clearly need an off a starting offensive tackle or a guy who can start in 2027 at offensive tackle. That that's a massive priority. They need at least one more edge. They're not gonna get edge one because that that's Aidan Hutchinson. He's he is that guy. He is him. They need to counter. They need the replacement for Josh Paschal, Marcus Davenport, AQM. Everybody who played across from him is basically gone. They have, DJ Wonnum, who is a run based player. He he can he can I hate to use the phrase? He has a little bit of shock and awe to his pass rush. If you're not if you don't have a good base, he will run through you, and he can get to the quarterback quickly. But he has to be facing a specific type of offensive tackle to to make that work. Like, as an example, Panay Assouel would just laugh at him, like, really? That's all you've got? Come on. But the Larry Borom that we saw for most of his career, he's eating him alive. So that that that so you've got your three, your your third defensive end. You need defensive end two, and you need somebody to compete with Hasani to be defensive end four.

Speaker 4: So I

Speaker 5: don't think that guy's on the roster yet other than Hasani, who's again, we don't know what's going on. And he missed his rookie season because he was hurt. That kinda hurts your developmental curve when you can't practice. That's one of the issues that I foresee coming with Ennis Rakestra. You know, he wasn't necessarily a developmental guy, but he's missed so much practice time and hasn't played meaningful football in so long that it's difficult to envision him having a big role.

Speaker 4: Right.

Speaker 5: So those are your two biggest ones. I love the fact that they don't need a tight end anymore. Tyler Conklin, tight end two, tight end three. Take your pick with Brock Wright. We'll see how that shakes out. But significant upgrade over the Kenny Yeboah situation from a year ago. Like, I'm happy there. Wide receiver, Greg Dortch, one for one replacement with Kalief Raymond, and he he's better he's certainly better in the slot than Leaf was, and he's certainly better after the catch than Leaf was. And, oh, by the way, he catches everything near him even though he's tiny. He has a ridiculous catch radius where he's a tiny like, he's he's he's five eight. Like, he's like my daughter's size. He's actually smaller than my daughter.

Speaker 4: Yeah. I was gonna say.

Speaker 5: My my daughter's five ten.

Speaker 4: My wife is as tall as this guy. Yeah.

Speaker 5: But but he can go, and he might might might might be a good punt returner too. Once upon a time, he was. We'll see what happens with it. And you got Dominic Lovett coming up. So I don't think they need wide receiver. I think one through five at wide receiver, I'm good going to battle now. I think at running back, it wouldn't hurt to have a late guy. But and interior offensive line we talked about. Like, they they've got super super fluidy, as my friend David would say, and I'm honoring him because it was his birthday yesterday.

Speaker 4: Happy birthday.

Speaker 5: Superfluousness. He's an English professor, and we lived together for a couple years in in college.

Speaker 4: And, fun I got

Speaker 5: some fun stories about that.

Speaker 4: Yeah. Real fun stories. I've heard some of them. Yeah. He's not here, man.

Speaker 5: Yeah. That's right. Dave Dave's not here. Dave's in Cincinnati, enjoying time with his kids.

Speaker 4: His wife.

Speaker 5: But so defensive tackle, they need one more because right now, Tyleek Williams and Ali McNeal, that's a that's a good starting combination.

Speaker 4: Damn.

Speaker 5: Perfectly happy with that. Who's replacing DJ Reader? What's the plan with Levi Anserique, if any? Are they counting on him? I want at least one more body in there, and the wider, the better. I almost want a more than I want like a gap shooting pass rush type guy, like Landon Robertson from Navy as an example, I want like the immovable object as a zero slash one technique. I really want that. Because I think Tylek I've heard through the grapevine that Tylek has slimmed down a little bit. You might see him much like Alim came back his second year with a remade body and a souped up game. Hey, Don. Happening with Tyreek. I put good money on that happening with Tyreek, actually. So but you gotta have again, you can't have your starters playing 75% of your reps. You just can't. Right. Right. So you need some depth functional depth there. And so they gotta get somebody in there. Let's look at linebacker. You're starting two, Barnes and Campbell. Jack Campbell is as as good as any young linebacker in football right now. All pro, deserving. Derrick Barnes needs to play better, but he's got some pelts on the wall. Rodrigo's back. Very good for short yardage run situations, sub packages. Trevor Nowaski is still here. They brought in the linebacker who is replacing Grant Steward on special teams, and I I could see him and his name is escaping me. But he might not play on defense. Like, he might only play special teams, but that's what Steward was. They still need to replay they need a coverage backer. They need that guy because that guy's not on the roster.

Speaker 4: I don't think so.

Speaker 5: Unlike a lot of my draft analyst peers, I don't like this linebacker class at the top. I think, Hill from Texas. I think, Jacob Rodriguez. I think all those guys are ridiculously overhyped. Like, I I would not take Jacob Rodriguez at number 50. Like, he's not that good. Right. Just athletically, there's a ceiling with him. So I'm I'm not in on that, but, like, late round guys. So there's there's guys that you can like down there, sub package guys. But if we're gonna play three linebackers, we gotta get one more that can play a lot. But, again, the priorities, edge defensive end, and offensive tackle, whether it's right or left. Again, I would prefer left tackle because I like I like having Penay being the best right tackle in the world. I don't wanna fool with that. And he might very well be the best left tackle in the world. That wouldn't surprise me at all, but I'd rather not have to find that out. I'd rather like, I know what he is over here on the right. Like, let's look. When you're already replacing your starting center with a new guy, and who knows what's going on at left guard, I think having some continuity is important, especially when you have a quarterback who can't move like Goff. Like, he needs to under like, he knows if Penay is getting beat. He knows why he's getting beat and where he's getting beat at and where he can step to. He'll have to relearn that from the other side or if there's a new right tackle there. And I would rather not have to do that.

Speaker 4: Yeah. I think the I mean, like, if I think about the draft, the the three places that you pick in in some order or another is tackle, offensive tackle, edge, and safety. Right? And I know it's not a BPA move, but maybe you take the BPA of those three at each location. Right? With a look to the future as to what kind of talent might be around when with your next picks. Right? It's we're we're those three positions are gonna kill us this year. They they absolutely will unless they get solved. And then then that's it. And I think the the Borom, like I said, it kinda makes that tackle not the the number one priority, especially how deep the tackles are in this in this league or in this draft right now. So we'll see. I don't want to trade any of next year's capital because next year's draft looks like a a smoke show. You know what I mean? Just this this is part of the reason. I'm like, maybe this year is a we do well. Maybe we get to 12 or 11 wins, which saying that is, like, like, for a Lions team is, like, how could you be disappointed with that? Right? Give me that. Yeah. I want that, Chris. Yeah. Yeah. The

Speaker 5: team was eleven and six? Hell yeah, man.

Speaker 4: In context, that's a fine freaking year. Right? Unfortunately, just like your boss, expectations increase with performance. You'll never be the best player, the best employee in the world. So there you go. So that's where we stand, but let's let's talk about something that you kinda hit at a little bit here. That that whole tackle kinda piece, you don't wanna see Penay over there. Would you like to see Decker that left tackle so that Penay can stay home? Let's talk a little bit about Decker and his snafu and or thus snafu around, Taylor Decker that happened this

Speaker 5: week. Oh, man. Taylor Decker, still a free agent because the lions cut him. And I'm sure you've read it by now. If you haven't, it's worth your time to read Justin Rogers at the at his his substack. Detroitfootball.net.

Speaker 4: Is that it?

Speaker 5: Detroit yes. Detroit football network. Thank you. It was circling around in my head. I had football. Justin went out to Arizona to Decker's home and interviewed Taylor Decker. And it published this morning. It's a great it's it's certainly worth your reading, worth your investment in his subscription if you wanna read it. It's it's it's done. He talked about how Decker feels betrayed a little bit. Blindsided is probably the best word for it because he was under the impression that the lions were not gonna ask him for money to take a lesser contract to come back. And

Speaker 4: they

Speaker 5: did. And he took his ball and went home, literally. Figuratively and literally. He is at home right now. And he had some, choice offerings about the lack of communication from the lions. That Dan had talked to him the day before their podium interviews, which was, February 23, I believe it was. It was a Tuesday of that week. And Brad I'm sorry. Dan, in his interview at the podium, talked about it, that he had been in contact with him, that he had a conversation, but I will leave you know, he said, I will leave the the the The details. Of that discussion, you know, private. And he did. And then Decker claims, through Justin, to have reached out to Brad, and Brad did not has, to this point, has not communicated back with him. And I have a couple of thoughts about that, Chris, but fill in where I'm anything that I'm missing there.

Speaker 4: No. I don't I don't think you're missing anything. I'm I'm I know your thoughts. That's why I wanna I'm really excited to accelerate into those. But I I was I I laughed because in the chat, Anthony Tottingham, again, he pre pre preempted what were some of the things that they had to talk about. But, it's, if nobody signed Decker, he's not worth what he asked for. Right? Let's just start right there. That's the market. That's how the market talks. This is the other side of it, right, where you hate it because I I I I you know, I'm gonna speak out of both sides of my mouth. The the player not honoring their side with the team, right, with with Terry on, don't feel like the team did a great job with Decker. And that's the problem with football. The hardest part is being a fan, and specifically a fan of a player because you get to really love those guys. I mean, they don't know who you are. Most of you, they they don't know who

Speaker 5: you are.

Speaker 4: They know the the fans collectively. Right? But they don't know who you are. And you you invest a lot of yourself into these players, and then it's hard to see when it's time to let them go. Right? You you get clouded with your your your fandom, and it it it makes it difficult. So the the kind of judgments from the outside in and then doesn't help because the press loves to stoke the fires on those things and get people arguing because arguing is the best way to get clicks and money these days, I guess. So fuck you, Riz. So anyway Here we go. Two more clicks, buddy.

Speaker 5: No. No.

Speaker 4: No. It's it's, it's that's that's kind of the thing, but I don't think I don't think the team could've handled it better. I think it's right to move on from him. I think the market is telling us it was right to move on from him. But 100%. 100%. The hardest part is, like, if you're a player, you really don't wanna walk away from the cheers and the fans and the noise. When you're 27 and you're a you're a star and people are cheering for you, and you don't buy a meal in town, and you walk around, you're, like, floating on that love through town. You know what I mean? There's there's you're important. There's a sense of ego that gets driven there. Right? Then when it's over, people pretty much forget about you very, very quickly. And the the crowd goes silent, and now you're left with your thoughts. And you start thinking, was I kind of a dick? Was I a little bit of full of myself? Probably. Like, did I take it for granted? Probably. Not everyone. Right? But I I think there's a lot there's a lot to that. It's hard for the players to break up and call the career over because it's hard to walk away from. Right?

Speaker 5: Right.

Speaker 4: Yep. I I I think I'm gonna let you start with this because I have another thought on it. Let's let's start with, I'll let you go. Go ahead and run.

Speaker 5: So, I I agree completely with the market, on this. And a lot of people will go into it in the chat and none of my readers on, so I can't, like, read it very well. But I'm getting the general gist Doug, let

Speaker 4: me check. With

Speaker 5: it that, Taylor Decker, his play and his inability to practice in 2025 was certainly not worth the cap hit and the salary that he was going to be earning from the Detroit lines in 2026. And we all see that. Even the biggest Decker stands will see that. And I'm I might be accused of being one of them, and that might be fair. That's not who he is anymore, and he was being paid for who he used to be. Yeah. And that's where you get into a lot of trouble in the NFL when you're paying guys for who they used to be. Somebody's gonna do that with Joey Bosa this off season and gonna regret the hell out of it.

Speaker 4: Nobody has, though.

Speaker 5: Not not yet.

Speaker 4: That's interesting.

Speaker 5: Nobody's done it with Taylor Decker yet either, and that includes Ben Johnson and the Bears. And I did wanna shoehorn this in just a little bit Yep. Because Justin made a point to say that that Ben Johnson has reached out to Decker even though Brad Holmes has not. And my my retort to that is, okay, they were probably friends. They worked together very closely, but the Bears still have a desperate need for a third tackle, and they're not signing Taylor Decker. What does that say about Decker's market value worth? And I do think that Justin put

Speaker 4: It says he's worth more than third third tier third string pay. Right?

Speaker 5: But is he?

Speaker 4: I I feel like third string pay for Decker is I think the market would bear that. I don't think he'll accept

Speaker 5: it to be honest. Him what the lions are paying

Speaker 4: Laurie Borom? 5,000,000.

Speaker 5: That's a

Speaker 4: little bit of a stretch.

Speaker 5: K. But

Speaker 4: but Borom's starting. Maybe.

Speaker 5: Maybe? Oy. Yeah. And and, like like, we're to the point now in in, like, where if you're a veteran and you aren't signed, like, you're not gonna sign anywhere so after the draft down, you're stupid to sign now because you think they might very well draft the guy who's gonna take your job from you before the end of July. Yeah. So I like I understood. That and that that's why you're not gonna see the lion signing Cam Jordan or any of these other names that are still out there, Genevieve Clowney. Unless those guys are absolutely desperate and have no other options, that's actually one of the reasons why the Peyton Turner move irked me a little bit. Like, if you're paying this guy minimum, he clearly didn't have any competition to sign his just any competition to sign him. There's nobody else wanting him. Why do it now, because that that's taking up a spot that you could instead use a seventh round draft pick on. And I I worry, perhaps, foolishly, irrationally, we fair, that the Lions won't take a guy in the seventh round because they have somebody like Peyton Turner that they might believe in. Like and I don't I don't want I don't wanna jump off that bridge, Chris. I don't. There's no point in that signing when they signed him is my point.

Speaker 4: That whole story about Ben Johnson calling is interesting that it got brought up. Probably unfortunate.

Speaker 1: This summer, serve up the cookout classics, craft mayo and dressing. Toss green salads with delicious ranch dressing or zesty Italian. Serve smooth, craveably creamy potato salads with mayo. We all know it's not a cookout without craft.

Speaker 4: But it does signal an absolute reality. Ben Johnson came from a team that had 15 wins and went deep in the playoffs. He's very, very familiar with the players and coaches on this team. Ben Johnson is already throwing the fishing line in to pick up people next year from the Lions staff, the ones he knows, the ones he loves. This is a different type of pressure for the Lions because you have some really, really good people on this staff, and it's gonna burn and hurt a hell of a lot more if they go to Chicago, who is obviously a team on the rise. You do not want to be the ones that push them beyond you. I mean, you were last in the division behind them this year, but you don't wanna be the ones that push them beyond where you are and take away, you know, you're the second banana in the NFC North again. Right? You don't want that. But I will tell you, Brad or Brad.

Speaker 5: I have my reading glasses now.

Speaker 4: I'm happy.

Speaker 5: I can read comments.

Speaker 4: Ben, that's a b word, is sniffing like a like a bloodhound throughout Allen Park for the talent that he wants across the board. I know this happens in the league pretty regularly, but he has guys that he has targets on their back. And this is where the lions has if the lions don't do good business, they're gonna push guys to Chicago. And in many cases right now, the lions are not doing good business. I'll leave it at that for now. The it's it's this is it burns more because of Chicago, but

Speaker 5: I don't think it's any different than, like, Matt Patricia going out and signing all those ex patriots and trying to install the Patriot Way. It's the same concept.

Speaker 4: Yeah. Uh-huh. Except better than looking at it connected to So, when Jim Schwarcz

Speaker 5: brought in Kyle Vanden Bosch. And, like, it's it's the same like, you're familiar with these guys. You don't have to rely as much on your pro scouting department who you might not know all that well, because it's you you've seen them. You've got you know that you can coach these guys. Like, so that that's that's not that's not unique to Ben. The fact that Ben is within our division and his

Speaker 4: And team from our world.

Speaker 5: He's taken some some play some players and coaches that the Lions wanted to keep already. Yeah, that's that's that that does amp it up a little bit.

Speaker 4: I'm I'm just gonna say be ready for some shock waves after '26.

Speaker 5: I hope not.

Speaker 4: I do too. My track figure

Speaker 5: they're shut down. Be spending so goddamn much on Lions Super Bowl winning merchandise and paraphernalia that I'm gonna have to get another job to pay for it all.

Speaker 4: People complain about the WCF years and how he was terrible and drove people away and all that. The business side of this has not changed a whole lot. We'll see if it was Rod, We'll see if it changes when Rod's gone. Not sure that that's where it is. I I hate to say this because I work for the company, and I and I continue to buy their products because I have friends that still work there. But Ford has run their shit. It's it's it's, like, cast right at the same the same kind of operating model as, as the Lions. It's it's it's just uniquely silly. And I think there's there's a lot better. There's some modernization in the thinking that could definitely happen. But, you know, Brad's pushing a lot and trying to help that happen, but, god, it drives me nuts. Anyway

Speaker 5: Well, he well, he's got motivation to do that too. Like, what hurts Detroit is good for him in Chicago. Like, he's not dumb. We might not like him anymore, but it the the man's first off, he's a brilliant offensive mind, and he does have that level of nephrity to him. That was one of the reasons that we liked him in Detroit, because he wasn't afraid to, you know, keep poking the bear and, like, keep beating the dead horse. He's good at that. That's one of his enduring qualities. It sucks that he's doing it in another city now, and it sucks that what's good for him is bad for us.

Speaker 4: Yes. And he is gonna

Speaker 5: play that card as much as he can.

Speaker 4: Oh, yeah.

Speaker 5: And, by the way, he should.

Speaker 4: Demoralization is a true tactic. It really is. And and one of the reasons I think that the Lions specifically beat the shit out of the Bears this year, both games, was the absolute anger. There was there was players that took it personally, absolutely to the per to the heart about, Ben going over to Chicago. They were fucking pissed. I don't know if that carries into this year. You know what I mean? And and Ben Ben's a smart man. He's more of a, you know, the infinite game player rather than the right now game player. So

Speaker 5: Yeah. In that area, he differs from Matt Patricia.

Speaker 4: Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 5: Good for him.

Speaker 4: Matt Matt Patricia couldn't see past a nice meal. With that

Speaker 5: You like the Hooters girls, though?

Speaker 4: Yes.

Speaker 5: To be fair, we did too.

Speaker 4: Yeah. I was gonna say. If there's one redeeming quality

Speaker 5: We were nice. Chicken wings.

Speaker 4: I can get behind that one thing from every trip. Oh, man.

Speaker 5: Oh, Chris. Goddamn it. You know, we liked him so much that day.

Speaker 4: WNSP. Go for it, guys. Brought the Dave Dave Chris brought in all those the wings and got that all set up. Like, I he was cool too, man. Like, I've seen your bowl so fun, bro. God. Yeah. Yeah. Oh.

Speaker 5: Yep. I'll can't wait to get back next year.

Speaker 4: Yeah. For sure.

Speaker 5: It's back in the plans.

Speaker 4: Yeah. And we and, well, the idea of remote broadcasting for us is, is definitely getting, an upgrade this year. So,

Speaker 5: Good.

Speaker 4: Hang on, folks. Hang on, folks.

Speaker 5: I've actually learned some things from my radio work where I can, like, I I I understand why this works the way it does now, Chris. Like, because as you know, I am not technically proficient. I am not You

Speaker 4: are impressive though, dude, because you were an absolute and and and and and please don't be mad at me. Missus Riston, missus Riston, hi. Thank you so much. We appreciate you so much. You're doing great, and I hear and when we're very happy for you. So but you were an close your ears, missus Ristin. You were an absolute bum fuck. Like, when it came to anything, like, plugging shit in was hard for you. Right? I mean, it was a stretch. How far you've come is massively impressive, Riz. And and in a very short time here, you have just, like I said, I I'm not just the content. Right? But what you're doing on the backside, I'm I'm fucking impressed, bro. I really, really am, man.

Speaker 5: And and so once I explained to you, Chris, it's not that I'm dumb. It's that I'm naive, and my naivete is beyond, like, like, I don't have any, like, awareness of why like like, if you put if you dumped an IKEA box in front of me, I'd be like, I have no clue what this is ever gonna look like, even if I know what to finish. Like, I I I will never have the vision. Like, I'm not good at puzzles. Like, I, like, I don't see it. I just don't. I I I cannot it would take me forever to do, like, you know, the anything beyond, like, the the puzzle of The United States, like, I'm like, I will be last in a competition to put it together. That's I just don't see how things fit together like that.

Speaker 4: But Your muffler your your your muffler story with your dad is the one that kills me. I I genuinely felt bad for you. It was hilarious, but because, like, you're my friend, I genuinely felt it in my heart, man. It was like, oh.

Speaker 5: It was so bad. Sorry, grandpa. Sorry. I'm sorry. I'm a moron.

Speaker 4: Oh, shit. Alright.

Speaker 5: Yeah. So back to Decker for a a little bit. And just and the Brad part of it. Brad not reaching out to him. That's not right. Now I will say, as somebody who was recently, let go against my will from a job that I had held for a long time, I never hear from people that I used to work with, and I don't expect to. If I'm Taylor Decker and I have requested my release from the Detroit Lions, would I expect the general manager of that team, who I don't wanna be a part of anymore, to reach out to me? I don't know about that. I'm not talking to my old bosses at at Wire Network. I have I have a pretty good relationship with one of them, so we we do still talk, but not work related.

Speaker 4: Ask them.

Speaker 5: I don't expect like, the I think that people have gone too far with, you know, the the brands are really why should he, other than at the very beginning of it, to show some compassion and respect for somebody who had given you ten great seasons

Speaker 4: Yeah. And

Speaker 5: was was a massive part of your team through thick and thin.

Speaker 4: That's something where

Speaker 5: And that even happened before, and now now there's no point to that. Like, that that hay's out of the barn, man. Like, there's no there's no reason at all for Brad to reach out to Taylor Decker now unless he wants to sign him,

Speaker 4: which is just gonna happen. There was a softer part of the

Speaker 5: He's he's not gonna be back.

Speaker 4: The softer part of managing people would probably serve well here. Like Yes. As silly as this sounds, but to get everyone together maybe during, you know, some of the OT OTAs or whatever and have a retirement party for Decker and just have people who've played with him throughout the years, maybe a couple players who played with him way back when, Just something to show that he was a key player for this franchise. He's gonna be in the ring. Right? The whole thing Yep. To just establish that connection that we truly appreciate what you gave. And I know it's silly. It it feels like softy, but that's the kind of thing where you can almost kind of rest assured a guy like Decker isn't gonna sign somewhere else after that. Number one. Number two, you really bring closure and you bring him the bridge to being an ambassador for the team. That's I think that's a, it's a real miss that most teams have. Right? Maybe it's not a retirement, but but but a thing. Right? I think something that like, what he gave this team and what he went through with the Patricia like, what he lived it. Like, we lived it watching it. He lived in the fucking with the the the knee breaker hill. He he lived that experience and carried the the water for the Detroit lions and and and performed at his best for fans. I just I just think a little bit of a gesture like that goes a long freaking way. And I don't know. Oh, by the way, you can't you gotta you gotta get rid of your, Twitter profile or your Twitter Twitter handle. You gotta now say, not good at puzzles underneath your name.

Speaker 5: That's me.

Speaker 4: Jeff, for instance, not good at puzzles.

Speaker 5: Yeah. Like yeah. They're they Brad should have reached out to him initially, just as a courtesy. And I the way that Justin wrote the piece, I got the impression that that's something that Brad wouldn't think about. Like, that that's foreign to him. Much in the way that installing a muffler on a seventy seven Grand Prix was foreign to me. Because I don't feel the rust specs in my eye, Chris.

Speaker 4: Dev by heart.

Speaker 5: That was that was over that was almost forty years ago that I did that. Jesus.

Speaker 4: It hurts.

Speaker 5: I got old. That's my grandpa. Yeah. Chris from yelling at me.

Speaker 4: Yeah. And you still can't replace a muffler. Maybe you should maybe Oh, god. Head on over to Midas. I do know what a muffler does, I think. Yeah. It's a it's a scarf.

Speaker 5: For somebody who worked in the car industry for as long as I did, I have a surprising lack of knowledge about ours.

Speaker 4: It's there's a lot of people like that, but but especially the leadership that

Speaker 5: seems to be audience. Yeah. I don't know these things.

Speaker 4: Yeah. Just just like the leadership of most of the the the American companies, they're all finance people, not freaking car people anymore.

Speaker 5: Maybe I missed my calling. Maybe I should try to go back and

Speaker 4: No. They need car people. I mean, it pays well, but if they could get some some actual car people in there, it might do them it might serve them well.

Speaker 5: It might it might it might help.

Speaker 4: They're trying to unwind the damage still. So we'll see. So Just a manic mechanic.

Speaker 5: I think one of the one of the other things I took away, and Justin put this almost as an afterthought in the piece, was that Decker's never coming back to Detroit other than to sign a one day contract, once he retires. Mhmm. Which I I've actually been to one of those ceremonies before, and it's cool. Like, I

Speaker 4: That's like that's what that retirement party could be. Like, if Brad would have called and offered that and said, look, man. I know you're thinking about retirement. We'd love to do have you in. Do the the the the contract for that's the contract you offer from the one day retirement retire as a lion. We're so happy and proud of what you did to this team. Like, that whole thing, I didn't bring him in, and maybe it's even a surprise retirement party. Right? I mean, you can you could do so much good with some simple shit. You know what I mean? Yes.

Speaker 5: Yeah. And I hope that happens. And and from what it sounds like from the way Justin framed it, it feels like that could happen this year. Like because it doesn't sound like Decker's phone's ringing. And they go to any go to any NFL, you know, PFSN, ESPN, Fox, whatever you wanna go to. Taylor Decker is the best offensive tackle on every single free agent list. And the fact that nobody is like, nobody's called him. Nobody's trying to sign him or has been trying to sign him, including Ben Johnson, who did reach out to him. I think some of Decker's frustration might be at the realization that, well, shit. The lions were right. I really I

Speaker 4: It's the ego, man. It's the ego that happens at the end of a career after you've been that super

Speaker 5: That's gotta be tough to take for a prideful guy like that who gave so much and so much good.

Speaker 4: That's the

Speaker 5: It can't be easy for him.

Speaker 4: Any player who spent many years in the NFL, when the crowd stops making noise, right, that's probably the hardest thing you'll face in your life. Because what? Since you were 14, you were treated like an absolute star. Right? You were given the best treatment, that best everything since you showed in high school that you could really play ball well. Right? You've lived this entire life and then everybody forgets about you. Gone. That's

Speaker 5: Yeah.

Speaker 4: That's it. It's gotta be hard, man. Anyway, bro, we're a little bit over time. I appreciate you going long today.

Speaker 5: That's that's what she said.

Speaker 4: No. I don't think she's ever said that. Oh, boy.

Speaker 5: Oh, Chris. This is why we're having fun together.

Speaker 4: Jeff, the giant Rizdon. That's gonna be your name. I'll I'll make up for that. I'm good for that. Alright. So, with that, let's let's, let's reel it on in here. Thanks for, watching the show. Don't forget to bounce on Patreon. Patreon.com/detroitlionspodcast. I have some really good stuff coming for our Patreon people, and we're just getting I wasn't traveling again last minute. We'd have the the tier set up where people can get ad free podcasts. So so stay tuned for that. But, yeah, the Patreon, you get access to the Slack. If you get $5 a month or more, you'll get an email to your Patreon email address. It'll tell you, you know, here's the link, and you can go get the Slack app and and jump in. Most intelligent lion's chat on the Internet. It absolutely is. And, it's intelligent more intelligent than probably about 45% of the media. So enjoy that group of people. There's, good stuff going on there every day. They're great folks. We all slide through that. Riz is super active. Ash is still running around in there. Gray, Bish, Brown, all the guys. I I'm not in as much just because Burke is killing me, but I I do read. I'd I'm more of a lurker than a participator lately, but I will jump back in soon. So, yeah, get us on patreon.detroitlionspodcast.com. Subscribe to the show. It's what helps all these guys get paid, and that's that's important to them. That's important to me too. Make sure to follow us on Twitter at d e t lions podcast. D e t lions podcast. Great place to be hanging up pants free like we like to do. And, of course, Jeff Risen, your daily DLP host. Every day, he's showing up in your, in your ear holes if you if you let him. And, one tomorrow

Speaker 5: and Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday. There might not be one next well, next Fridays and next Saturdays might be, recorded earlier than that. So that might not be the most timely information because I'm going on spring break with my family, and I'm looking

Speaker 4: Lucky dog. Good for you. You deserve it, man. Jeffrisden is where his Twitter is. Of course, we're at d e t lions podcast. Be sure to go to detroitlionspodcast.com. Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can go to YouTube and go to youtube.com/detroitlionspodcast, I think. And, you can subscribe there too. Sorry. A little bit of, what is that? Not huckleberry. What's the anyway. It was I don't know. It starts with cartoon.

Speaker 5: I don't know.

Speaker 4: Sprinkleberry. I had a

Speaker 5: 10 conversation with my daughter this morning about Woody Woodpecker. And so I'm like, I'm I'm in that mode.

Speaker 4: I'm not touching it. Alright. Be subscribe. Do the thing, that everyone likes you to do, and we appreciate you for doing it. Thank you for tuning in. We're gonna see you next time on the Detroit Lions Podcast. Remember, no pants, no toasters, no hot tubs. Come on. No little wieners evidently. And no problems because we are your Detroit Lions and Reddit connection. Thank you all, Riz. Thanks, bud. Oh, well, I just hit buttons here.