After Hours with Amy Lawrence PODCAST: Hour 4

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Major League Baseball trademarks used with permission. Welcome to the Hump Show on After Hours. Hola! Good morning to you. It's a Wednesday. It's your hump day if you're just waking up.

My hump show. And once we get through this show, we're to the back half of the work week. Some weird work weeks in August. I will give you that.

And I'm not complaining at all. We actually need every last bit of time at the office over the next four weeks to get ready for the NFL season because even as producer Jay returns from vacation, not until the end of the week, our final show of the work week, then I turn around and I have a weird week next week filling in, doing a couple of daytime shows on CBS Sports Radio Monday, Tuesday. And then I have a long weekend again because we've got family in town. I still have a vacation in early September. I never take vacation at Labor Day, but I am this year. And so there's just a lot happening in this month.

And so before we know it, the NFL season will in fact be kicking off. I know a lot of people are on vacation. I heard from a friend who was vacationing in New Hampshire just on Tuesday night. I had another friend who just came back from Alaska. Lots of people taking beach vacations and trips. And so it's that time of the year.

But get this. My mom's first day of school today. My mom's a teacher.

She's never going to retire. It is an in-service day, but it's her actual first day of school, her first day of being back on the payroll, so to speak. The kids will return next week. But yeah, got friends in the southern parts of the country, Midwest, where schools are getting back in session even now these next few days. And of course, we've got young people who are going back to their college campuses, like my older, excuse me, my younger niece, who is soon to be starting her senior year.

The young woman who dog sits for me now, she's going back in a couple of days. So it's crazy. But school is back in session with the next few weeks for pretty much everybody. And that means football is soon to follow.

Four weeks from Thursday, we've got the start of the 2022 NFL season. Wow. Wow. I think that pretty much sums it up.

That just about covers how I feel about it. Wow. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio.

I could think of a few more words, but for now, wow will suffice. We are live from the Rocket Mortgage studios. Whether you're looking to purchase a new home or refinance yours, Rocket Mortgage can help you get there.

For home loan solutions that fit your life, Rocket can. As always, if you miss any part of the show, you can catch it on our podcast, After Hours, AmyLawrence.com. We had a weird, atypical, completely unconventional version of Ask Amy Anything on this edition of the show. So an hour ago, I actually both read and answered the questions that you sent to me on Twitter, A Law Radio plus our Facebook page. We're operating outside the box this week and that's totally fine. Producer Carlos doing a great job getting kind of his feet wet and what it's like even preseason football, which is what is going to be the majority of this next hour. We're going to do some QB news coming up in about 15 minutes. And we're going to start this hour with the latest from one Roger Goodell, your favorite. I mean, I suppose with the way the 2021 NFL season went and with the my stomach's growling. Sorry if that comes across the microphone and with the way the NFL navigated the pandemic.

Roger Goodell and his staff deserve high marks. So maybe he's no longer your least favorite commissioner. But he's certainly public enemy three or four among sports fans, maybe not public enemy number one.

That seems to change. You could probably put Kevin Durant near the top of that list right now. Trying to think who else.

Probably Deshaun Watson, though, I guess depending on which side of the fence you are when it comes to Deshaun Watson. The commissioners are always in the top 10, all of them. Rob Manfred, Roger Goodell, certainly Gary Bettman. And maybe Adam Silver is a little more liked, except the NBA has got plenty of controversy on its plate.

So, yeah. Let me just tell you, though, those commissioners are paid very handsomely to stand in the gap and protect their owners. They're paid handsomely to be Teflon.

You can throw whatever you want at them and nothing sticks. They're essentially deflecting. That's what they're doing, deflecting from the owners.

They're running interference. And Roger Goodell does it very well. As much as you could say that Roger Goodell is awkward. Remember that whole draft that he conducted from his basement?

Oh, that was so deliciously awkward. He never is caught without an answer. Have you noticed that? He's fully prepared. You may not like his answers. You may think his answers suck. You may think he's fake. You may think that he's lying through his teeth. Whatever you think of his answers, he's never without an answer.

Even though sometimes those answers come awkwardly. The man's prepared. He's prepared to take all the hits. And the latest ones are coming in this Deshaun Watson case. No surprise that the NFL is appealing.

Just for a second, can we take just a quick scenic route around the cul-de-sac here? The fact that the NFLPA put out a statement even before Judge Robinson released her ruling of the six-game suspension and the 16-page explanation of how, yes, in every way the NFL proved that Deshaun Watson had violated its personal conduct policy and had in fact committed sexual assault, sexual harassment certainly. But engaged in sexual misconduct willingly under the NFL's definition, right? Not a court of law, but under the NFL's definition, the NFL had made its case. Even before she does that. And certainly after she did that. But before she did it, the NFLPA actually put out a statement suggesting that no one should appeal.

Isn't that so comical? There's no way the Players Association, who represents Deshaun Watson in this situation, didn't know what was coming. Somehow someone leaked something or they got the heads up. Because the NFLPA knows six-game suspension is about the most they could have asked for. And so as a preemptive strike, it's just so transparent right now. It's so obvious. As a preemptive strike, they put out a release indicating they will not appeal.

Neither will Deshaun Watson. And we would love for the NFL to adopt the same approach. Oh, I bet you would. Okay, now I'm back onto the main street. I'm back off the cul-de-sac. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio. The NFL obviously did not agree to forego appeal. And so Roger Goodell made it very clear as he was meeting with reporters in a bit of a scrum on Tuesday.

It's part of another event that we'll get to. But that right to appeal, hey, we own that. We've all agreed that the right to appeal is in that collective bargaining agreement. As part of the CBA, the two parties had that right.

Either party could certainly challenge and appeal that. And that was something that we thought was our right to do as well as the inappropriate. So we decided it was the right thing to do. So you notice he tells you what the right is but doesn't really tell you a whole lot except that was our right. We had that right. We decided it was the right thing to do.

I think he said the word right about seven times in those 20 seconds. But why, though? Why, Roger Goodell, is the NFL appealing the six-game suspension of Deshaun? Because we've seen the evidence. She was very clear about the evidence. She reinforced the evidence that there was multiple violations here. They were egregious.

And it was predatory behavior. Those are things that we felt, always felt were really important for us to address in a way that's responsible. Okay. So there are a lot of different questions here if the NFL felt like they were really important to address. Well, why didn't they update their personal conduct policy, their domestic violence, sexual assault policy before Deshaun Watson, yada, yada, yada.

So we could go around and around. We're not going to do that. But essentially what the commissioner is saying is, according to our disciplinary officer, which she was appointed by both sides, not just one. She was jointly agreed to.

Yes, Deshaun did engage in sexual assault as it's defined by the NFL against the four therapists that they presented as evidence. Now, there's one very obvious route that I think the NFL can and likely will take in its appeals process, which is that there are four therapists that we brought as evidence. They should be considered as individual cases. They're each individual people. There's a pattern here. At the very least, Deshaun should be facing punishment for each of these women.

Now, here's the question we don't have an answer to. Why didn't the NFL present more cases? Why only four? Remember, Deshaun settled with 23 of the 24 women who've signed civil lawsuits. And the Texans settled with 30 women, 30, including some that did not file civil lawsuits. So why did the NFL only present the cases of four women? They interviewed more than four. Maybe they felt like these were their, well, clearly they felt like these were their strongest cases.

But why not more than four? I don't know, but I do know that Roger Goodell has indicated they think each of these cases should be taken separately. So maybe that's where they start. It would be an obvious starting point for their appeal. Six games is not enough because these are separate cases. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. No timetable according to Roger Goodell either.

Which leads us to more questions. What does that mean for the Browns? And if the appeal's not done, if the appeal hasn't been heard or the appeal hasn't been judged before the season kicks off, then what?

Does Deshaun continue to work? Because remember, under this suspension, he's supposed to stop practicing with the team about a week, I think it's a week and a half to go before the season kicks off. He's got an end point in preseason where he can't be with the team anymore. So if the appeal's still being heard and hasn't been ruled on yet, he should still be allowed to practice and play, right?

What if we get to the start of the season? Now, I'm going to assume, you know what happens when you assume, but I'm going to assume that this officer that the NFL has appointed, that Roger Goodell is appointed to hear the appeal. He's a former New Jersey Attorney General.

His name is Peter Harvey. He's about to become a household name similar to Judge Sue L. Robinson. So I'm assuming that this former AG recognizes that time is of the essence and that they would expect him to have issued his ruling by the time the season kicks off. But the NFLPA and Deshaun Watson's camp could go the legal route, which means there could be a stay.

So the whole thing could be put on hold. We're not done yet. Remember, I mean, don't spend too much time thinking about it. It'll ruin your day.

But remember, Deflategate, years, years of my life, I will never get back. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Do you want to wake up on this Wednesday morning?

You shake the cobwebs out, a little bit groggy? Well, wait until you hear Jamal Williams, who may have at least initially stolen the show from Dan Campbell in the premiere episode of Hard Knocks covering the Detroit Lions. That's coming up later this hour, plus some QB news. But the big reason for the NFL's commissioner and owners to get together on Tuesday, they have unanimously approved the new ownership group of the Denver Broncos. You may know the name Walton, as in Rob Walton. This is the Walmart family.

No doubt the rest of the NFL owners want the infusion of Walmart money into the league. So it's Rob Walton. It's his daughter.

It's his son-in-law. And they were beaming as they took over ownership of the Denver Broncos on Tuesday. Putting a winning team on the field is our number one priority. We can't wait to get to Denver, join our new colleagues and get to work. I'm pleased to be here with my daughter Carrie, my son-in-law Greg. Working together as a family is going to be great fun on this project.

It's a good business, but it's a fun business. We also know it's important to excel off the field as well, both in our community and across the league. That's true for our incredible group of leaders that we're fortunate to count as members of the ownership group. We're committed to making sure the Denver Broncos are the best team to play for, to work for and to cheer for.

We can't wait to get back tomorrow and get this started. We could not be more excited to officially take ownership and lead the Broncos. As my good friend and former 49er Harris Barton said to me last week, this will be one of the most fun and satisfying things that you do in your life.

It's also a responsibility and a privilege. The Broncos are an iconic franchise that means a lot to Colorado and the whole Rocky Mountain region. We have enormous respect for Pat Bolin and what he meant both to the Broncos and the NFL. We also appreciate Joe Ellis' guidance through this process and are grateful that he's agreed to stay on and serve as an advisor for the coming season. Joe Ellis is a name that Broncos fans will know even as Rob Walton, Carrie Penner and then Greg Penner, all part of the Walton family. They take over the ownership but also the operations of the Denver Broncos.

I love how Rob Walton phrased it. It's going to be exciting to work together as a family. Although I suppose the family business has been relatively successful to this point, right? No reason to think it won't be in the NFL. And if you need further proof, well, there's Jerry Jones.

I've had the privilege of knowing their dad. I look at what at least one example of getting a little strain of it, staying cronky in the room with us does, and that's done nothing but lift the NFL. So just by their presence, it'll be a great addition. Unanimous approval of a sale, $4.65 billion. There's a lot of reasons why it was unanimous, but that kind of money sets a record for a franchise to be sold. And you can imagine it's like quarterback contracts. The quarterback market, it just continues to snowball pretty soon. I mean, I don't know how many more of these franchises will be bought and sold in the next, say, 10 years, but I wouldn't be surprised if the next couple get as close to $10 billion. But the NFL is a cash cow. If you can get in on the ground level, so to speak, you've become a billionaire.

And now if you can buy into this exclusive, I don't want to say fraternity because it's not all men, but you can get into this exclusive family, well, you know you're tapping into yet another incredible revenue source. So that was the reason for Roger Goodell and the owners to get together on Tuesday. Of course, he had to answer questions without really telling us a whole lot. I just saw this question pop up on my Twitter from Jean. She said, why wasn't Watson on the commissioner's exempt list? Why was he allowed to be traded if they thought his conduct was this egregious?

Well, the timing is critical here, Jean. Deshaun Watson's investigation just recently wrapped up. He was traded before that. In fact, he was traded after the criminal authorities or authorities in the Houston area decided not to file criminal charges. So at that point, the trade went through. But Judge Sue Robinson hadn't even heard the arguments from the two sides until just, say, six weeks ago. So the word egregious and what she said about his conduct and that the NFL had made its case, that only happened a couple of weeks ago. So that's why he was allowed to be traded because the investigation wasn't done and the ruling hadn't been handed down yet. All right, coming up, some QB news to whet your appetite. Why Aaron Rodgers poo-poos your preseason snaps?

And why Mac Jones is even more confident going into his second season. Plus, a bear makes a trade request. If a bear makes a trade request in the woods and there's no one there to... OK, never mind. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. You are listening to the After Hours podcast. You're the colonel.

You're going to command your troops tonight. You understand? Have the offseason blues? Blake Portals delivers to his tight end. Mariota drop fires downfield. It's caught to the five, to the end zone!

Oh my goodness! How about the Hail Mary from Winston? He's to the five, he's in for the touchdown! What a play by Manning. Rodgers in the end zone.

It is caught for the win! It's time for QB news on After Hours. Old school highlights there to set up our offseason edition of QB news. Actually, we're getting close to preseason. It's not offseason anymore, is it?

It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Aaron Rodgers, eh, he's not really interested in standing out there on the field and taking a single snap in a game in preseason. Nah, he's got his own ideas like he does about everything else. I definitely don't see any benefit to playing one series. You know, if we're going to play, we should play. And play a quarter, a couple series, two or three series.

Just shooting up for four plays, to me, is a waste. And I'm not saying this to send a message to Matt. I've already told Matt the same thing.

So, we'll see what happens when we get there. He refers to Matt Lafleur because Aaron's not playing in their preseason open on Friday against the Niners. But did anyone else catch that he said, what's the benefit of running out there for four plays? I mean, are you assuming you're going to go three and out? How about stay on the field for, say, nine plays or ten plays and score a touchdown?

And then tell me there's no benefit to that. So, Aaron Rodgers more focused on the preseason. Though, of course, it's easy to watch what's happening on the practice field and think, oh, that team's not in a groove. Or, oh, that player is struggling. Which you see on Twitter every single day from reporters who are covering practices. And they're telling me about how a quarterback threw an interception. And it just means nothing when you're not playing against a different team, right?

And so that's kind of Aaron's point. When you have a stinker like we did last year in week one, there's always going to be the second guessing of what happened in training camp. Should we have played more? Should we have played in the first game, the second game?

Whatever it might be. I don't want to overreact to that. Matt doesn't either. But if we feel like we need to go out there and play a quarter or more, you know, that'll be Matt's call. I'm sure he'll lean on me and Big Dog and Allen and some of the older guys to see what they're thinking. But if we play, we should play. And not just play three plays, three runs and punt it.

That doesn't do anything for any of us. Again, he sounds like he doesn't have a whole lot of confidence in them moving the ball in preseason. One of my favorite Grammie Helen stories, though, from last year when the Packers got smashed. It was in Jacksonville, right? By the New Orleans Saints in week number one. I talked to my Grammy on Skype a couple days later and she said, I don't think the Packers were trying very hard.

You're probably right, Grammie. It's after hours with Amy Lawrence here on CBS Sports Radio. In other words, don't react, overreact or really put any stock in what you see in the preseason. Because every year it's different and there may not be a direct correlation between what happens in preseason and what happens on the practice field and what happens in game number one. Daniel Jones, is this the year that he actually proves it for the New York Giants? I wouldn't call this a quarterback competition, though there are a lot of people who think that Jimmy Garoppolo could end up in that quarterback room with the New York Giants. Last year was supposed to be the year that Jones would take a big step forward, but this year it's Brian Daball, who of course worked with Josh Allen the last couple seasons in Buffalo. So, Daniel Jones, team leader, let's go. I feel confident about my leadership role on the team and through the offense. I think we've got a lot of leaders on this team. We've got guys who are willing to step up, who are willing to show the way it's supposed to be done, who are willing to say something when it needs to be corrected. I feel like I have a big role in that, and I certainly feel comfortable in that position. That was a large financial investment.

The fifth-year option was $22 million, and it's fully guaranteed, and you see what some other teams are going through with that. Again, it's an important position. We wanted to be around him. We have confidence in Daniel. We want to see what he can do. Again, you have the franchise option if you need to, or you can work out an extension if it works out. He's somebody that performs well like we think he can, and that's always an option as well. In other words, the Giants are also taking a wait-and-see approach, but as Joe Shane, the general manager of the Giants, points out, all the options are on the table. And so, should he prove that he has the goods and the skills and he's made the progression to be the franchise QB moving forward?

Well, then they will pay him. For now, though, it's been a changing of the guard at the top, a new regime. How does he adjust? And it's obviously difficult. Constant change equals constant losing. We've talked about that with Baker Mayfield, talking about it with other teams that have had their current quarterback see various iterations of the offense and the coordinators and the head coach, and it's not easy. But it does prepare you and make you tougher, make you a better QB if you're up for the challenge.

It's after hours with Amy Lawrence, CBS Sports Radio for Mac Jones. It's all about that C-word, consistency, moving from year one to year two. Can they find that rhythm and groove? I care a lot about the guys around me, and when I don't produce or we don't produce together, sometimes it's a little frustrating for whatever reason. It takes 11 people, and if one guy doesn't do his job, me included, then the play doesn't work.

So trying to get 11 people to do it right and do it right more consistently. We're going to figure it out, and that takes time and patience, and I think we're making a lot of progress, so it's good. Patriots did win double-digit games last year in Mac's rookie season, and I would expect them to make a jump because he's the most impactful position on the field, and he's smart. We know he's smart, handpicked by Bill Belichick. And so here we go into year number two of Mac Jones, and he's actually really excited about the offensive line, the guys in front of him. We have good offensive linemen, good players up front, and a lot of it's just figuring out the scheme and making sure that there's no free guys. That's the biggest thing for me is as long as there's no one free, I should be able to make the throws like any quarterback can, and I know my offensive line can do that. It's just getting the communication down.

It's different than what we've done in the past, so just figuring that out and trying to watch it together and all that. Nobody free. We don't need anybody free just coming at me with a full head of steam. Yeah, that could be the quarterback's worst nightmare. So Mac Jones and the New England Patriots, 10-7 last season, but again, expected to make a jump this year. I certainly would look for that with the Patriots because they're not going to remain in the same position. That's impossible with a coach like him, though the fact that they don't have coordinators and they've got this need to defy convention, as Belichick always does, you wonder if that maybe impacts them in some way. Mike Tomlin, first quarterback competition for him in his entire tenure in Pittsburgh, right, because he came a couple years after Ben Roethlisberger. He's never had a losing season as the head coach of the Steelers, in large part because of Ben Roethlisberger and the Hall of Fame career, but now they've got Mitchell Trubisky. They, of course, have Mason Rudolph, who's been there. They've got the rookie in Kenny Pickett.

And for now, it appears as though Trubisky is QB 1, and he actually looks back to his year with the Bills in 2021 and understands how important it was for him to sit and to watch behind Josh Allen. I knew going into that it was going to be a different role. So you go from playing to be the starter to taking a step behind. But in a way, it was helpful because I got to see how a different organization ran things, and they did it the right way, and everything went through the quarterback.

So that was awesome to see. And just how they prepare being in Coach Davis' offense and then working with Ken Dorsey and Josh and Davis Webb and the rest of the guys there, you learn a lot in the quarterback room. A lot of athletes at every level, college and pro, tell me that when they're forced to sit and watch, so because of injury typically, maybe they lose their starting job for some other reason, when they're forced to sit and watch, they see the game in a way that they never did before. Now, part of that is because they're so anxious to be out there, but also because they're forced to observe. They're forced to absorb the game in a different way when they're not the man or they're not out there constantly.

It's just a different perspective, and it becomes very valuable. So you're here with Trubisky. Now, the opportunity to start, that's huge for him. Here he is after that tumultuous tenure with the Bears, going to Buffalo, knowing his role there was a backup, but progressing so much, he earns the chance with Pittsburgh. I came here for the opportunity to start and lead a team, and I've definitely been given that, and I'm just trying to take advantage of that every day. I think playing for a coach like Coach Tomlin, it just gives you confidence, and I've learned so much since I've gotten here. He's taught me so much, and I think he really gives everybody on the team confidence, the way he prepares, the way he knows the game. Did somebody say confidence? Mike Tomlin instills confidence. Wait until you hear what he has to say about his quarterback room. Now, remember, he's got three guys here in Mitch, Mason, and the rookie.

Can he pick it? They've all remained viable. They're making it difficult for us. It's tough to manage three capable guys, but they're forcing us to do it because they're making the necessary plays. They're anticipating, the timing has been good, the accuracy has been good. Mitch's silver bullet, if you will, is his fluidity and mobility. He's a really good athlete.

Rudolph throws a really good deep ball. Viable. Not generally a word that you hear when you're talking about starting quarterbacks.

They're all viable. They're all alive. Anyway, Mike Tomlin says it like no one else can. He does have some praise for his rookie.

Can he pick it, though? Eight has been steady, Eddie. Kenny P., I don't think you can get him in an environment where he gets flustered, and we were able to appreciate that because of proximity. We saw it at Pitt, and it's been the same.

It doesn't matter what drill or what environment you put him in. He's steady, Eddie, and really cool. I mean, if I wanted these next four weeks to go more slowly just because once we get to football season, it runs my life. Between that and my dog, I don't have a whole lot of time left for myself. But it's all right. It's good for business. Always good for business. Not complaining.

When I hear Mike Tomlin speak or when I hear Jamal Williams scream and get emotional and Dan Campbell on hard knocks, I'm thinking, let's go, or LFG. But this is a family program, so we can't say that. Right, Erika Herskowitz? You wouldn't dare, would you? We could say worse.

That's what I think. We could say whatever we want as long as we're willing to get fired. It's so true. It's so funny. I was listening to a friend of actually the guest that I'm going to have on tonight's show, Lindsay Rhodes, formerly of NFL Network. Now she does a great podcast and a show on Sirius X and NFL Radio.

And I was listening to one of her shows and she dropped a couple of swear words and I was like, whoa. And then I remembered, it's satellite. You can say what you want. Maybe we should take off for satellite. We could say what we want. Yeah, we're restricted, but that's okay. We need that restriction. We need to be. We need the V chip? Yeah, otherwise we would be just completely out of control.

Hey, speak for yourself. You don't, you're not in my car when I'm getting road rage, right? You don't know what's happening then. Well, that would be a good podcast. Oh my gosh.

No, I would never work again. Stop it. You are listening to the After Hours Podcast. I swear to God, I'm not a lunatic. I swear to you.

And if I absolutely knew we could get to where we need to get without ever putting pads on, I'd do it. I swear to you. All I think about is you guys. That's all I think about, man. That's all I think about is you guys and how I set you up for the best possible, the best possible advantage I can give you to have a season. I swear to you, man. I just need you to trust me. That's all. This is After Hours on CBS Sports Radio. For no other reason, that is number one, top of the list to tune in to Hard Knocks, the latest season featuring the Detroit Lions. So Dan Campbell, the brand new head coach, trust me, I'm not a lunatic. I promise you.

Wait, if you have to tell people you're not a lunatic, there might be a problem there. Why even put it out there? Well, because people are saying it. So it is any wonder that when Dan Campbell sets that tone for his players, that others also get emotional and Jamal Williams gives this speech on Hard Knocks, episode one, to his fellow Lions.

Now, remember, it's the second season in Detroit, but he's been in the NFC North his entire career. This is now going viral from Jamal. Well, let y'all know, man, today is the minimum of effort. Do not give up. Do not feel like you tired.

Were you tired? Think of last year and think of that record. Every time I get tired or I think I can't go no more, I think of that record.

Last year wasn't it. That ain't us. We can make it. Have some heart. I get emotional about this. I'm about to cry because I care about y'all.

Do your best. Let's go. Lions on three. One, two, three.

Lions. It's fantastic. Now, it's going viral.

And so he was asked about the fact that his speech is going viral and it's become something that you can find now and see all over social media and the Internet. Just do what I can for my team. Just let them know it's all right to be vulnerable and let your teammates know that you really care. And so I feel like the more you show yourself to your team and the more your team can respect you as the person you are and not what they think you are. So it's just more about us just coming together, getting that chemistry together and just open up to one another to let each other know, you know, it's a job. But at the same time, it's still football. You still got to care for the brother next to you because you got to be playing together.

So you just got to keep that trust and, you know, just say what you need. But it just all came out. It just all came out in a big old flood. It's After Hours with Amy Lawrence on CBS Sports Radio. Glad to have you with us on what is now a Wednesday morning. And we're just going to jam up to the top of the hour. Hard to believe this is the hump show, middle show of the work week. Have you missed any of it? Well, we'll catch you on the podcast and you can easily find that after hours.

Amy Lawrence dot com. We actually had more QB news that we didn't get to, but we'll sprinkle it in throughout the rest of the week. The first actual week of preseason begins on Thursday, which is exactly four weeks until the season opener in the NFL. But one of the big storylines, non quarterback storylines on Wednesday.

Nope, today's Wednesday. Tuesday was about Roquan Smith, the Bears linebacker, asking for a trade. So he submitted this in a written statement that was published, I think, first by NFL Network, but then became viral, similar to Jamal Williams and his coach, Matt Eberflue. So his new head coach there in Chicago really doesn't have a lot to say about it, obviously hopes that they can find some type of an agreement with Roquan. But it sounds like Bears general manager Ryan Polls was caught off guard when this first became public. Wanted to come in here and, you know, let everyone know, obviously, we're aware of everything that's popped up with Roquan and Twitter. So I thought it would be best just to address it straightforward.

Like, I'll double down on what I've said before. My feelings for Roquan haven't changed at all. I think he's a very good football player. I love the kid, love what he's done on the field, which makes me really disappointed where we're at right now.

I thought we'd be in a better situation, to be completely honest with you. In terms of our philosophy in the front office, I've always believed and always will be that we take care of our homegrown talent. We pay them, we take care of them, and we take care of them for what they've done and what they can become in the future. And with this situation, we've showed respect from a very early timeframe. And with that said, I mean, there's record-setting pieces of this contract that I knew for a fact was, I thought was going to show him the respect that he deserves. And obviously, that hasn't been the case. With that said, you know, we can't lose sight that this isn't about one player.

My job is to build a roster that's going to sustain success for a long period of time. So, Ryan Polls, sounds like they were in two different places, believed the offer that was made to Roquan Smith was one that not only showed him the money, but showed him the respect. And they're not giving up. I mean, so Roquan is four years in. He was a first-round pick in 2018, which means they've got the extra year that they can tack on, right?

They can pick up the option. They're trying to come up with a long-term extension in this case, and Ryan's not giving up. Right now, my intentions are to sign Roquan to this team. And we're going to take it day by day, and at the end of the day, we've got to do what's best for this organization. But my intentions are to make sure Roquan Smith's on this team.

There's always going to be a little bit of separation, but at the same time, like for an extension, it's got to make sense for both sides. And obviously, we're not at that point for him to put that out there. So, not thrilled with what Roquan Smith put on social media and then, of course, was picked up by NFL Network and every other network, but he said the contract negotiations between himself and the Bears are at an impasse. He wrote, this is his quote, the new front office regime doesn't value me here. They've refused to negotiate in good faith.

Every step of this journey has been taken or leave it. The deal sent to me is one that would be bad for myself and the entire linebacker market if I signed it. You know what this smacks of? Kyler Murray's agent and the statement they put out on Twitter. And look how that worked out for Kyler. It's a copycat league, you guys. Now, I'm really hoping that a lot of people don't end up copying Aaron Rodgers retreat to South America and ayahuasca and all that jazz, but it is a copycat league in that we saw one wide receiver get a massive deal in Christian Kirk and all these other wide receiver contracts followed.

Then, we see Devante Adams. Now, his is different, right, because he wasn't a free agent, but he gets traded from Green Bay to Las Vegas, almost at Oakland. He actually left money on the table in Green Bay. He wanted to play with Las Vegas, so he was able to pick his franchise. The Packers did him a solid, and he signs a huge deal. Tyreek Hill sees it. That's what he wants. You've got other guys feeling disrespected because they didn't get the fat contract, like an AJ Brown who also gets a deal. Didn't even like how his worked out, though.

How about Deebo Samuel? Same thing. Keeping up with the Joneses. So the wide receiver domino, drop, drop, drop, drop, drop, drop, drop. Another popular way to negotiate with teams these days is to scrub on social media.

We saw multiple people do that. Just send the signal, if you will, and requesting a trade when they feel like they're not getting what they want from their team. An ultimatum, right?

But the Kevin Durant mode, but it's not just in the NBA, it's in the NFL too. And I appreciate the fact that the Bears have put their side of the story out there, and they're kind of calling Roquan's bluff. But, yeah, this is the pattern. If you don't get what you want, make it public. Put it on social. Criticize the team for the way they've handled your negotiations, hoping that that lights a fire.

If, you know, the scrubbing on social media didn't do the trick. So it's what we're seeing. Kareem Hunt asking for a trade. The Bears said no. But Kareem Hunt asking for a trade after he didn't get it, or didn't get the money that he wanted. Roquan Smith now too.

So, doesn't sound like the Bears are willing to trade him, nor do they have to at this point, but honestly, it feels more like this is just to get their attention and to call the public's attention to his plight. So we'll see what transpires on Wednesday in the best reality show on TV. We'll talk to you then at CBS Sports Radio. Thank you. Thanks, everybody. We'll see you next time. See you next time.