SPEAKER_00 0:02

All right, Will Creele. Welcome to the pod. Did I pronounce that correctly? You did. You did. It's an honor to be here. Kyle, thanks so much for hosting. And uh my apologies to you and all of our fellow DL3 league mates for being so delinquent in my uh in my duties, man. It's an honor. Yeah, because you've been in the league since the start, haven't you? I have been here since the jump, and it's uh it's been a lot of fun. All of a sudden I realized this was just saying to you before we got rolling, man, this thing is a little long in the tooth all of a sudden.

SPEAKER_01 0:34

It does have a quite a bit of history. The drop-down menu for years goes back to 2020, uh, which sounds like it was last year, but it was you know five, six years ago. No.

SPEAKER_00 0:44

Yeah, and I realize as a result, as I reckon with the wreckage of my my team, that those trophies I got in those first two years, and you knew I was gonna mention that in the first couple minutes, those trophies are now pretty dusty.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

Well, I got the first one, you got the second. That's right. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

I I got two of them. I got uh back to back.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

Oh, 21 and 22.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Yeah, and then it's ever since then it's been a little dry, and the fans are getting restless. The talk radio is definitely heating up.

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Yeah, I can imagine, especially so do the quick intro. Where you live, where'd you grow up, yeah. I could tell from the video, but but tell the listeners.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Yeah, what you can't see, and what what Kyle was treated to uh is a basement full of Buffalo Bills gear. I am born and raised in Buffalo. Um currently living just 20 minutes outside of Philadelphia. I have been a Bills season ticket holder for going on 20 years. Uh my first year as a Bills fan, I was born in '81. My first year as a Bills fan is uh Ronnie Harmon dropping a pass in the back of the old uh Cleveland Stadium uh from Jim Kelly to lose a divisional round game against the Cleveland Browns. I was there uh the whole ride through. You know, I was peak sports age for the Super Bowl run. And I often joke with my wife and my two kids, who I'm now you know raising as Bills fans. They've been to games with me, you know, we're all in together. I say, man, if Norwood had made that kick, this might have all been different, but I'm still chasing. Here I am at age 45, you know.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

Yeah. Uh how so you have season tickets currently? And you live in the middle. I do.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

I'm coming up on 20 years. As soon as I got a paycheck, I went out and got those tickets. And I live, what, a seven-hour drive away, but I'm I make it to four or five games.

SPEAKER_01 2:39

I was gonna say, yeah. So what's the how do you get up there? Drive?

SPEAKER_00 2:43

I stuffed the uh, let's see, what have I been taking lately? Uh uh flagpole that is expanding and can fit underneath the wheel of your car, uh, a couple coolers, uh, the kid if I'm taking a kid. And yeah, we we we uh hit the road and we drive up through these back roads. I think I've just about got it memorized now after all these years of driving up. And yeah, it's uh it's a good time. Take off that Monday. My work always realizes like, man, he's suspiciously ill on Mondays throughout the fall. And I've already got those dates booked. So um yeah, it's it's uh it's a great time. It's a good way to keep in touch with the hometown. And there's something about being there for a game. For example, my son and I were at the Bills Bengals last year where things look pretty grim for the Bills, and then Christian Benford picks off Burrow, runs it back the other way, sparking a comeback. And being in the now old stadium with my at that time 10-year-old son for that game, that was a beautiful thing.

SPEAKER_01 3:41

And now do you have your seats already picked up for the new stadium?

SPEAKER_00 3:44

I do, man. They got me. They finally soaked me for PSLs. You know, living just outside of Philly, I always joke around with folks. I'll be like, guess how much my my season tickets cost? And they'll, you know, guess some number that's way higher. I'm like, nope, it's $1,200 or whatever it is. And you know, they're not like perfect seats, but they're far from nosebleeds. They're aisle seats and they're you know, got a great view of the of the stadium. And yeah, they finally got me. Um Mr. Pagula finally finally took me for a personal seat license. So I'm excited to get in there and see what it's like and you know, start mucking the place up a little bit. It's like a new pair of sneakers. You know, you gotta you gotta get them a little scuffy and look make them look a little lived in. So that'll be that'll be soon enough.

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Yeah, new stadiums also always like the first time you go, it's like, wow, this doesn't feel like a professional ballpark or stadium. And then like by year three, you're like, this is a great place.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

That's right. That's right. I've don't tell my son, don't let him listen to this podcast, but uh I'm gonna take him to um Bill's, I think it's Bill's Patriots, uh, right around his birthday, which is October 9th. So that'll be his first time there. And I I can't wait. Um, but there's gonna be a part of me that's always gonna remember sitting up there uh in the 300 end zones, you know, a couple rows from the very back, watching Marino Kelly in the snow uh for a birthday present for me with my father way back then. So I'm I'm getting all those surreal uh kind of uh midlife. Holy smokes, look at the cycle of this thing uh vibes from the new stadium. It's it's interesting. I never, man, I never thought I'd see the day, a new stadium built in Buffalo, but yeah, can't wait to get in.

SPEAKER_01 5:18

It's supposed to be one of the best. We talk about PC North. It's uh it's and then I have a friend down the street who's uh who flies back for all the Bills games.

SPEAKER_00 5:27

My man. Yeah, and you know, old Phil Whitman and I, we we've been we've been to quite a few together. So I'm thrilled to have him in the league. And let me uh let me just say that he does indeed trade. Uh he and I were just texting about a trade before we uh we got on and started recording. So stay tuned by it.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

Uh maybe he's playing us. Yeah, maybe Kyle. Let's compare notes about that. We'll do that off pod. Um so yeah, how do you know the league, Alex? How'd you get involved?

SPEAKER_00 5:55

Oh, I feel like it was providential, man. It was heaven sent. Um, I've been thinking about dynasty for a long time. Alex uh and you folks are some of the few people who go back as far with fantasy football as I do. Um, I started a league in my garage when I was nine years old. Um, so that was 1990. And I knew about fantasy football from a book that I bought from our local bookstore, and it had pages that you could Xerox for roster sheets. And, you know, we did the whole thing, like got the composition notebook, would not figure out who won the game until Tuesday when the Buffalo News arrived with the box score for the Monday nighter. And we were drafting people like Andre Ryzen and, you know, of course, Jim Kelly and Chris Miller from the Falcons. Like it's just it's weird to have had like Jerry Rice on your fantasy team, but we hit we did all that. And so, you know, we've been doing that league for for years. I think you folks call it old reliable or something. Um, or at least Alex has got a league like that. Yeah, I mean where he called Yeah, he goes way back. And um, so I knew that you guys were kindred spirits, and over the years, Will Arajo joined our league. Um, people cycle in and out, you know, not everybody's been in it for the whole, what is it now, 35, 36 year haul. And Will's been a great owner and competitor. And he told me that uh you folks were starting a dynasty league, and he he had heard me for years trying to pitch converting our league into a dynasty league. I just I wanted something where I could draft a guy and really think about it. I just wanted a different kind of weight for all the moves. You know, I wanted things to be um more consequential, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 7:35

It's easier to trade when when there's future payoff. If it's you're like, uh, trade doesn't do me anything this year because my team already sucks.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

That's right. I wanted a little bit of um a longer view. I wanted to zoom out a little bit and and have uh decisions resonate more. And yeah, so we'll pitch the idea. And uh I think there was a vote and I was adopted in, and it's been a blast. Uh it's been it's been so fun. I I have tried pitching the idea to other folks. Um what I like about this league is there's a little bit of uh first of all, there's some great personalities in the league, you know, going back and forth with Jamie on a trade. It's like a it's a unique experience. I love it.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

Um I was just I don't want to interrupt you, but I was just talking to my wife. Or I was just talking to Jamie actually. I was just texting with him, and I he I was telling him, when we get in our trade talks, like usually he'll call me pretty late at night and I'll have a couple beers. Yeah, I'll be like yelling on the phone, and my wife will come down and be like, what is going on?

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's cool. It's it's it's a rush for sure. And I I like all the vibes of the league. You know, despite never having met any of you folks except for Will and and now our our new colleague, uh PC North, aka my old friend Phil Whitman, you know, the vibes have always been really good. It's become very quickly uh maybe my my second or third favorite league. And that's that says a lot because I've known these other assholes for a long time. So I just I like the whole thing, man. It's been it's been cool. Now I just gotta turn turn the ship around and see if I can't get the old Garfield some new trophies. So I have two two questions there.

SPEAKER_01 9:10

How did you know PC, just real quick, PC North and Will, how do you know them?

SPEAKER_00 9:13

Well, we're from me and Phil, PC North, uh, are from the uh from the same neighborhood in Buffalo, from Buffalo's northwest side, the neighborhood of BlackRock. And me and Phil, we go way, way back. We go back to, I think I'm 10 or 11 when I first meet him. Um I'm I'm in almost daily contact with him uh thinking about Will. I know Will because Will was uh a New York public interest research group canvasser uh with uh me briefly, but also a bunch of our of our BlackRock friends knocking on doors, raising money for environmental nonprofit. And we he joined our uh our our version of the old reliable, our our long-standing redraft league, and he's been uh been pretty, pretty uh successful in that league. So we we now, man, me and Will, we know now know each other at least 15, 20 years too. It's crazy how time flies. It's also crazy to me that I'm I'm marking the passage of time via fantasy football, but that that is definitely what's happening.

SPEAKER_01 10:17

It is funny. Um, you mentioned a couple big names, uh, Chris Miller, Andrew Man, Jim Kelly. Do you want to shout out one of your favorite or first or tell me about some of those players real quick?

SPEAKER_00 10:31

Yeah, let me let me just give a special shout to uh uh my old franchise, which won me the BlackRock Fantasy Football League championship back in, I want to say 1991 or 1992. It was, yeah, Chris Miller uh chucking up to a guy named Michael Haynes. And I remember uh Boomer, uh Chris Berman on the primetime highlights would say, Haynes, nothing else feels so right. And that year they went on a tear. And I feel like every every time I looked up, it was a 70-yard touchdown from Miller to Haynes, and they powered my team to the championship. And I called my team, and I've you got to figure I'm like 10 or 11 years old. I called my team for some reason the Armenian terrorists, which in retrospect, I think it's like a I think it was a back to the future reference, but I'm it's lost to the the haze of time now. And yeah, we uh we won the damn trophy and it was a good time, but unfortunately, uh a little bit like uh Will's Jets, I haven't won a trophy in that league since, which is I feel like statistically hard to do because like I say, we're going on 35, 36 years, and it's been eluding my grasp ever since. And I I hear about it all the time, and probably PC North and Will are laughing right now as they listen to this. So that was a good team, man. But when your your last winning quarterback was uh was Chris Miller on the 1990s. Yeah, it might have been. It was it was old as hell, it was a long time ago. That was, I mean, like that's yeah, that's me. If it was 1989, then I'm not even 10 yet. I'm nine. That might be the inaugural season.

SPEAKER_01 12:01

That was the only year Chris Miller. I have his stats up. That was the only year he could have put up a league-winning meat season.

SPEAKER_00 12:09

Yeah, and that's it. That was that it was that fall. That would have been our inaugural fall. And so that's that's me. Man, we have uh we have a PDF where we scanned in some of the old uh rosters from the roster sheets and some of the uh the scoring from our composition notebook, and that's a a trip down memory lane for damn sure.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

All right, nice. We have a we have a small agenda to get to today. Anything else uh as a first-time pod listener you wanna you want to get off your chest?

SPEAKER_00 12:36

No, I just want to say I really appreciate all the uh the good vibes in this league, man. It's been a it's been a pleasure. And I let me also say that this is an inflection point year for me. You know, I've I've got choices to make. I've got old friends who I'm gonna be bidding adieu to on this team. And I started breaking it up a little bit last year. Um, but man, you know, I've got I've got heavy choices in front of me. So you're gonna be talking to me after an unprecedented Buffalo Sabres run. They hadn't made the playoffs for 14 damn years and they made it this year, and then the World Cup's been eating my brain. So you and I and the listeners are gonna kind of sift through this uh this flotsum and jetsum together in real time. This is kind of a first time in a little bit that I'm turning my attention to the uh the old Garfields.

SPEAKER_01 13:23

Uh that's awesome. I uh used to be a huge hockey fan, but as you get older and kids and work, you gotta kind of pick your sports, and hockey kind of fell off the wayside to me, but I remember the Dominic Hassock uh hell yeah. And so when uh my the same friend I mentioned earlier down the street, he was all excited about the first playoff run in what was it, 20 years or 15 years?

SPEAKER_00 13:47

Yeah, it was it was 14, and it was the longest uh drought uh the NHL has ever seen. 14 or 15. And um historic.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

I was like, last time I was paying attention to the NHL, you guys had the best goalkeeper, you guys were great. What happened? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:02

It was the last time they're in a playoff game was game seven uh here in Philly against the Flyers, and I'm there, of course, with other guys wearing sabres jerseys, getting beers poured on us. And that was 2011, and I hadn't, you know, so I kept telling my kids every year, like you know, they they didn't get it. Like, why are you always why do you always have the sabers on, you know, while we're eating dinner and stuff like that? They they would rock with me and they've been to games, but I kept telling them, wait, one day we'll get to the playoffs. And we had a great run. It was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 14:30

Nice, nice. All right. Uh let's talk about old Garfields. Uh one, what's is that like your brand? Are you old Garfield's and everything? Or how what's what's the story?

SPEAKER_00 14:41

No, I'm I'm very, very fond of this picture of Garfield. He looks uh he looks he looks uh more slovenly, you know. He looks a little bit uh a little bit more chill. He's definitely uh a couple beers in and he he might have something else in his pocket. You know, he looks pretty relaxed. Lots of lots of videos. Yeah, yeah, that's right. He's got something in that in that lasagna sauce that John and Odie uh are discovering. Yeah, I I I used to um as a real little kid, um like five or six, I remember I used to get out wax paper and trace Garfield's and uh and I like the old ones. I thought they had characters, so it's fun to be able to uh just stare at this uh this dude every day.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

Did they make is old Garfield a real thing, or was that just like an internet meme?

SPEAKER_00 15:24

Nah, that's just me thinking of the name. I was like, I want to use this picture of a of Garfield and uh let me throw I like team names with two uh two words, so I figured old Garfield's will work for me. I'm not old Garfield's it's not a brand, but uh maybe it should be, man. Maybe I should get to work on it.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

I some people keep the same name. I keep cat I just keep my last name. I'm pretty boring.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Uh yeah, that is one thing about the league, man. I let me I'm scrolling through to see if ever anybody's still using the damn helmet logo. Nope, looks like we eradicated the helmet logos. That's cool. But you got a good picture. You get you're on like some hunting shit.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Uh that's AI. It's uh the tooth tiger petting my shoulder.

SPEAKER_00 16:03

I believed it, Kyle. I was ready to ready to roll with it. You could have been like, that's my pet.

SPEAKER_01 16:07

And I'm jacked. Uh AI is very um so the the story behind that, real quick, is when my son was potty training, you know, it takes a while. They want to sit on the potty forever. So I would go in AI and create images of myself doing really cool stuff like fighting dragons, uh this one with a tiger behind me. Um, and AI is very generous with their muscle tone and looks. Very nice.

SPEAKER_00 16:36

Uh so that's all that is. Yeah, you you you you could have kept that a secret, man. I was buying it. Man, I'm just looking at these logos. The commission's kid has gotta be older than this tiny little newborn. I mean, that's that's been there for a while now. Oh, yeah, the two kids are huge. Yeah, yeah, that's right. That's right. And I don't think I've seen that in a while. But okay. So, okay, down to down to brass tacks here.

SPEAKER_01 17:01

Let's look at this shit. I I tried to do some research, so fill me in. You let go of you know whether through their contract expired, mostly their contracts expired and you decide not to extend them or franchise tag them. Sam Darnold. Yeah. Uh what are you just you peaked with him or what?

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Yeah, I I I kind of fucked that up. Um I couldn't really uh deal with riding with Darnold again. Um and even though you know the success is real, I I I feel a little bit like the Vikings uh from a year back. You know, I just I couldn't couldn't commit. And the money was gonna be outrageous. And I I thought, I mean, I got burned by Pat Mahomes a couple years ago, and I just I felt like it was coming down the pike again. We'll see. You know, I'm probably guaranteeing him a league MVP uh this year, but I just I I couldn't I couldn't couldn't do it. I couldn't commit. That's one thing I've learned about this league is the quarterbacks. Alex knew it from the start, and the DL1 and the DL2 folks had that had that pretty well figured out. I remember the first draft and quarterbacks were at such a premium. And of course, if I had thought logically about it for a second, I would have would have figured that out a little earlier. But yeah, I I don't know, man. The the price was steep, and as I say, I'm I'm kind of what I gotta watch out for right now is middling it. You know, I I feel like I really need to commit. Um, and I'm letting Darnold walk was probably you know counter to the idea that this is it. But I I think I'm gonna try and figure it out if I can't get one last shot out of this core. And other than that, you know, I'll see everybody in the 2030s.

SPEAKER_01 18:39

And and just to make sure I was reading it right, this is your first year. You Darnold was on your team last year. You let him go this offseason, right?

SPEAKER_00 18:45

I I think that is correct. Now, you like I say, I may do this in real time here. Yeah, he's not he ain't on the team anymore.

SPEAKER_01 18:52

No, and then uh Jamison Williams, which I kind of like, which we'll talk about later when we talk about the free agency draft.

SPEAKER_00 19:00

Yeah, he's another guy. I mean, I like I like uh Jamison a lot, you know. And I I'm now as a father of an 11-year-old kid who loves sports and actually really wanted to be on this podcast with me. Um he uh he loves Jamison Williams. And the idea of having Jamison Williams uh and St. Brown again, I don't know. It started feeling a little top-heavy again. There's only so many so many touches to go around with those guys. I but but what you're hearing in my voice, Kyle, and fellow league mates, is it's the sound of an owner struggling to pick a direction. I mean the the winds are blowing one way or the other. And that's yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

Yeah, that was me last year, except I knew I was the winds were taking me down. But I thought I could get one more decent year and rebuild on the fly. But now the league has elegantly put a clown face on my logo.

SPEAKER_00 19:54

So I I saw that. I thought now that is definitely AI. No, that's the league. Oh my goodness. I did not do that. What come on, man? League tycoon is getting a little snarky. I don't I don't know if I need that. Oh, I see, and then Jamie's got the uh the League Tycoon Lombardi there, I guess. Yeah. Shit. All right, well, we got we gotta change that.

SPEAKER_01 20:17

All right. You're did you do any extensions this year? I was trying to look at that, it wasn't super clear.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

No, I couldn't, I couldn't extend C D Lamb, which is again gives us a you know one more time kind of vibe to it.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Did you tag him?

SPEAKER_00 20:30

No, I I'm not tagging him. This is it. He's he's on the team. We'll see what happens. This is like we'll we'll see how this one goes. Okay. I'm a I'm a believer in for this year bringing together some combustible elements and seeing seeing what happens. And that's why the free agency list this year is pretty interesting to me.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

And then Amon is in his last year. What yeah's the plan there?

SPEAKER_00 20:57

Ah man, if if the old Garfields had uh a ring of fame, you know, he'd be on it. He's he's been on the team since day one. And that's actually how I won those trophies early on. Is I I hit on St. Brown and Justin Jefferson, and that was money in the bank. Um, everything else. I mean, I was just just dumb luck. Um, and you can quote me on that. I got lucky with those guys, and that was a lot of fun.

SPEAKER_01 21:21

Uh the league started transaction history in 2023, as best I can tell, and all it says is you extended them. So I had dollars this year, which is insane. You must have got them for a dollar or something.

SPEAKER_00 21:34

Yeah, I got him. I could go back and and look, but yeah, I I think I drafted him right out, and it probably was just because he had a cool name. His brother, I think, is Equinimius, and what are they, the sons of some crazy bodybuilder grew up speaking German. I mean, he just had a cool story. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff, so I'm like, yeah, let me let me draft that guy. And it's worked out pretty well. So uh but yeah, this is it. This is the last hurrah with him.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

Okay, and then you have a few interesting, I don't think you've done your experience. Extensions yet. You have till the start of the season. Have you got a lot of people?

SPEAKER_00 22:04

My extension candidates suck. Yeah, I've looked at it. I mean, you know, I've I've stared at it before. And it's not it's not great for me.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Um run through it real quick then. Pearsall for 789.

SPEAKER_00 22:15

I feel like that's I'm not there's no way I'm giving that money to that dude. I mean, I like Ricky Pearsall. Anybody who gets shot and come back and play football, I'm you know, it's cool. But that that seven eight nine, man, it's those little contracts like that that I feel uh hurts you when you are uh sitting there in the auction and there's some real value late, and all of a sudden you're like, why the hell do I have Ricky Pearsall locked up for another year at eight when he's you know catching what he catches and does doing what he does? Maybe there's more there. Maybe I'm being too down. I know we've got some Niner fans in the league, you know, educate me on Ricky Pearsall, but right now I've I've got no real plans to do anything with him.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

Yeah, with Jennings and uh obviously IUK out, and I don't trust that uh Kittle will be super healthy, so I'd be a little higher on him, but yeah, I think maybe I'd slap one year on him, but I I get it. Especially especially if you don't think you're gonna if you're not gonna be good till the 30s, maybe, you know. He's a superstar, you could trade him.

SPEAKER_00 23:18

Yeah, it's it's 789. You know, we'll we'll see what happens. You know, maybe maybe you're giving me ideas there. Ray Davis is my other guy. You know, I've I've got a bad habit of drafting bills, and um, I love I love Ray Davis. Actually, another I think a San Francisco native for crazy story. Got a movie coming out about Ray Davis, uh, about his journey to the league, grew up homeless. I mean, he's an inspiring dude. Uh, I think he was uh uh an all-pro kick returner last year. I think he got named all pro. Uh, but you know, I'm not seeing those points. I I love Ray Davis, but as a Bills fan, I hope he never has to be RB1 because that's that means something happened to my man James Cook.

SPEAKER_01 23:56

So yeah, he probably 567. That seems way out of line.

SPEAKER_00 24:00

Way out of line. And then here comes the the real problem. Marvin Harrison Jr.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

What has anyone sent you a trade request for Marvin Harrison?

SPEAKER_00 24:08

Well, if if somebody would like to, please press send on that right now.

SPEAKER_01 24:12

I sent you a trade request, it expired. I didn't know if you were ghosting me.

SPEAKER_00 24:16

Oh, I might have been out of town. Try that again, Kyle. Let's let's re- uh re-ignite those talks. I'll give you my third round pick this year. Dude, we could make this happen right now. Yeah, let's do it. All right, sold on that. Folks, you heard it here first. All right. I am locking that in. Yep. I'll I'll accept it here. Is it has that ever happened before on the pod? Have we had live business like that?

SPEAKER_01 24:39

Uh we've discussed business. We haven't made business happen.

SPEAKER_00 24:43

Let the record show I'm drinking a seltzer, not a beer. So this is this is cold, dead, cold sober making that deal.

SPEAKER_01 24:50

Okay. I have a beer because that's just my policy when I'm podcasting.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

That's a good policy.

SPEAKER_01 24:56

All right. I just sent it.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

No, I just saw it. Here we go. Yeah, so um good luck with him.

SPEAKER_01 25:04

I have a lot of cap, and I'm just hoping I can catch a down asset. Yeah, I think I don't have faith in it. That's why I offered a third.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

Boom. You do have a lot of cap. Holy smokes. There you go. All right.

unknown 25:17

All right.

SPEAKER_01 25:18

You don't need to extend him anymore. That's my problem now.

SPEAKER_00 25:20

That's right. That's right. I'll be I'll watch him. I mean, I was just bummed out, you know. I was just uh I was real excited about him. For me, the rookie draft in in years past has been me trying to draft guys I would have liked to have seen the Bills draft in terms of wideouts. And I I was a big believer in him coming out of school, so it's been disappointing, but maybe that's just Arizona. You know, who knows? Maybe the book is not closed on him.

SPEAKER_01 25:46

Yeah, now unfortunately, I'm just realizing I'm gonna have Jordan Love and uh Harrison Jr. Uh, so that's not great, but worth a shot.

SPEAKER_00 25:57

Is he you're getting live reactions right now, folks? You tune into the pod, you're gonna hear all kinds of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 26:03

Uh, your last eligible one, I think, is Keon Coleman, uh, seven or nine. That I don't I assume that's a no.

SPEAKER_00 26:09

Yeah, that's a that's a big fat no. I mean, nothing would make me happier. Uh, and same with uh PC North and Alex than for Keon to suddenly have the light go on in year three and be worth seven, eight, or even nine league tycoon dollars, but I don't foresee that happening. And it bums me out. Yeah, but like I said, I got a bad habit of drafting these these bills right underneath Keon on the uh on the chart here that I'm looking at, I'll be at a different position, is my man Dalton Kincaid, you know, another guy who has not really performed a value.

SPEAKER_01 26:41

So yeah. I would have left him off the list because he was so irrelevant, but he's a bill, so I thought I'd bring it up.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

No, I appreciate it. I mean, let's hope. You know, come on, Keon.

SPEAKER_01 26:49

All right, rookie draft, you have one six, two, six, two, eight, and now three, one. Uh how you feeling? What what's your are you targeting anyone? What what are you looking for?

SPEAKER_00 27:00

Uh this is smoke season right here, right? So let me let me throw out some names that are looking at. Like I say, I'm always interested in dudes that I would have loved to have seen Brandon Bean trade up and get. So, uh or even sit still and get. Um, I I like the idea of Mikai Lemon uh in Philly. I don't think he'll reach the sixth pick. Uh I don't really like where KC Conception landed in Cleveland, who's throwing to him. Um and miss me with the whole, you know, Deshaun Watson's gonna be the guy this year. I just it's too bad he went into um uh a bad place for skill position guys. Yeah, but I would have liked him. I liked his game a lot. Um like the tape, would have would have thought he would be fun in Buffalo if it didn't work out. Chris Bell is my guy from Miami. Someone's gonna have to catch passes there, and it might just be Chris Bell. And I I have a vision of him being good down the road, but we'll we'll have to see on that. Other than that, I'm not I'm not really into the the tight ends this year. Um no no no surprise there. I love the running back in Seattle. Um uh what's his name? Uh Love. No, not Love. Jadarian. Um Price. No, that not yeah, that's right, because Love is um in Arizona. He's not gonna make it to six. No, he's not gonna Price is the guy. Price is the guy, but he's not gonna make it to six either. I mean, I like him a lot. Yeah. Maybe he makes it to six. If he does, I'll grab him. Yeah, trade Jamie on the chat. Yeah, trades, Jamie. That's right. Um but yeah, I I would like to see uh see Price get some burning. You can see how that would work. That seems like a natural. But you know, it's it's a little it's kind of a little bit of a down year. Um I say that now. I'll be excited about whoever I get.

SPEAKER_01 28:52

I also like um wait uh if you like if you like Bell, why wouldn't you like Conception or Concepcion? They're both kind of stash players.

SPEAKER_00 29:05

Yep. I I think I believe in what's happening in Miami a little bit more than I believe in in Cleveland. Um Miami's gonna have draft capital, cap space next year, an owner in uh Steven Ross, who's gonna be motivated to win sooner. I don't know. I mean, I just don't, I just Cleveland man, God bless him. I always would said back in the dark days of the Bills drought that if the Bills ever moved, I'd become a Cleveland fan, so I would get it on the ground floor.

SPEAKER_01 29:37

Nice. All right, well okay. Uh you mentioned old friends. I think that's just on the anyone else on your team you want to shout out?

SPEAKER_00 30:07

OC is on a different head coach is in a different system, but it makes sense, it makes sense to me. Oh, you got me? Yeah, uh I I missed you for a bit. Uh oh fuck. Sorry. I'm just I'm just babbling, man. I'm just there's no good reason in uh in other than I think Cleveland sucks and has sucked and will sucked, and I'm familiar with the concept of good wide receivers in Miami, albeit under different OCs and different head coaches. So it's nothing but vibes. It's a pure uh pure intuition sense of it. But I I also like Chris Bell. Like that's again, that's another guy I would have liked uh in Buffalo.

SPEAKER_01 30:42

All right. All right. Uh today we're gonna go through the free agents in the upcoming draft, which Alex has been talking about. Uh before we do that, I have to pay for Zoom and our podcast feed. So I need sponsors. Who's your sponsor today?

SPEAKER_00 31:01

Let me give this one up to the good folks at Labat Blue. Thank you for all the beers through all the years. That is my sponsor.

SPEAKER_01 31:09

Are you still drinking them or oh yeah. Nice. I know there's a lot of uh local East Coast. Uh Phil mentioned one, uh something Lingus or something like that.

SPEAKER_00 31:22

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's I mean, I live in a great spot of the world for for beers. I mean, we got some good spots in in Philly and even some good Jersey spots. Um, and I'm I'm very, very appreciative of that. But there's nothing like driving back from Buffalo after a Bill's win with a 30 rack of you know blue or blue light cans in the car that you've just bought for $18. And uh, you know, they live in your basement fridge for two, three weeks. It's a great, great feeling.

SPEAKER_01 31:50

Yeah. Two, three weeks is too long, man. You gotta pump those thumbs up as uh as they would say on multiple Wall Street.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

Hell yeah. I'll get I'll get out there.

SPEAKER_01 31:58

All right, LaBats, we'll uh send you an invoice for this ad. Um cool. All right. Uh league free agents. I thought we'd go by position.

SPEAKER_00 32:07

Yep.

SPEAKER_01 32:08

Um running back, I think, is probably the strongest group.

SPEAKER_00 32:13

It is stacked. It is look at that. It's it's gorgeous, man.

SPEAKER_01 32:16

Dripping with dollars out there, and I just lowered my dollar amount. Um, so some of these people are gonna go for a steal, but uh I cannot wait. Do you want to start at the top, or where do you want to start?

SPEAKER_00 32:29

Yeah, let's do it, man. I mean, you've got Taylor at the top. I think that's right, but you also got McCaffrey right there. You know, you you could make an argument that those are flip-floppable. Uh, I'd I either one of them would look real good in the old Garfield's uh orange and black. I'd feel really good about that. We'll see. I mean, we got a new owner in the league, maybe money's burning a hole in his pocket, maybe he's playing the long game. I guess we'll find out with Mr. PC North. But uh yeah, the dollars are a little bit low, and some of these folks are gonna be really valuable. For my money, give me um give me uh McCaffrey. I I I I like Taylor, but man, how many games in a row did they lose last year?

SPEAKER_01 33:13

I know it's not his fault, but yeah, I just don't trust that infrastructure. I feel like that was a flash in the pan. I think Taylor, I think I've said on a pod, looks amazing. I just I don't trust the Colts. I don't this is the lit, the ranking is based on League Tycoon's estimated value. Gotcha. Yeah, so I would do McCaffrey first there for sure.

SPEAKER_00 33:34

All right, well, we're in it, we're in agreement on that one. And then the uh the old king himself, Mr. Henry coming at number three. Oh no. It's gotta break sometime, right? I mean, in theory, you know, in theory. He's doing things that people will talk about for decades. I just um, but you know, last year you did start to see what it would look like. I think you did start to see a little bit of the the luster start to fade.

SPEAKER_01 34:02

He had some like old man moves where he was fumbling and stupid points and like uh uh I don't know off the top of my head, like 1400 yards and 12 touchdowns or something.

SPEAKER_00 34:13

Like he still is doing it, but he's still a machine, but he might be one, Kyle, where you could you know see him drop. Everybody has the same inclination that you and I just evinced now in real time, and you could see him getting snagged for cheap late. You know, he's one who might be if you throw him out in the auction early, you know, maybe that's one thing, but if he comes in late, he might be he might be cheap.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

Yeah, I think we gotta throw him out early. Uh and then all right, then Cook and Barkley, which I think are also studs. Like that's five studs at the top.

SPEAKER_00 34:51

It is stacked. Give me Jimbo, man. I'd I'd love to, you know, you you're gonna have uh rookie head coach. Um they fed him, well, I think he had over 300 touches last year. NFL league rusher, first bill to win a rushing title in a long time. Uh I'm into it. I I I like him again this year. The offensive line is pretty much intact. I think they're gonna keep feeding him. So I I being here in Philly, the uh the vitriol towards uh Saquon for a down year, it was a little surprising. I kind of saw it coming, man. They speaking of running people on the ground, you know, a year prior, two years ago, Barkley that felt