NFL Teams cut rosters to 53

This is the best of the Adam Gold Show Podcast brought to you by Coach Pete at Capital Financial Advisory Group.

Visit us at capitalfinancialusa.com. This is the Adam Gold Show. You know crowd noise would be great to be involved in an atmosphere like that. We know that their fans will be loud and for us it's something we need. We're going to a hostile environment and we haven't played well on the road in those.

So we got our hands full and we're going to have to play great to have a chance to win. This is the Adam Gold Show. It is the Adam Gold Show. I am Adam Gold. Thank you very much for spending some time with us.

Dennis Cox is here as always. You can feel it actually you can feel us getting closer. I'm sorry first.

Excuse you pause. You can feel us getting closer to the start of a huge opening weekend of college football. You can feel that again. I don't mean to poo poo week zero, but I mean, what did we have? We had the impressive debut of Drake May we did have that it was very impressive. It was we did have the laughter inducing Nebraska loss in Ireland.

What was really interesting Mike Felder our friend from stadium. He does a newsletter and I encourage you to subscribe to his newsletter. There are different variations of it. There is a free version and a premium version. The premium version gives you a lot more stuff, but the free version is also good. I'm not saying you shouldn't just do the freebie.

That's fine. He he actually wrote that. The worst part is that Nebraska had to fly X amount of miles X amount of hours to do what they could have done at home. Yeah, but what's interesting about that is that he also points out that but it's also the good part because regardless of the outcome on the football field. He said those players those students got a tremendous experience. Yeah, they got a chance to go to Ireland and some of them may never go heck. I have never been either of I I would like to go I would love I would love to go traveling in the UK. Yeah, absolutely.

I want to go to all 20 Premier League stadiums. I do I want to go I am not I am now that guy you are that guy. I am that guy. I was I was on with the Mac attack this morning. Oh, very nice. And I don't even know why it happened. How's Travie doing there?

They're doing great. I'm probably going to bug them later in the week. So I go on and I don't even know why one of us brought it up. Maybe they brought it up. I didn't realize both of those guys are EPL fans to really.

Really? And so at the beginning of our conversation, it just kind of we just sort of made references to it because it's match week 5 starts today. We got a bunch of matches today. I actually have a have a bet on that. I just I had to set my fantasy lineup today.

Oh, what do you mean? Oh fantasy football in full swing the actual fantasy football. All right. Well, we probably should talk fantasy football at some point. Not not.

Yeah, like EPL. Oh, oh, I'll tell you about like tell you who's on my fantasy team. Mosala. I can tell you. No, I don't have most really, you know, don't have Mosala. It's a you had to come up with a roster under a hundred units and I didn't pay for for Mosala.

So I but I paid for somebody who hadn't done anything yet. So we'll get to all of that. Maybe maybe we won't get to that.

Let's start. It's cut down day National Football League. Everybody's got to get down to 53 Panthers have not announced any cuts as of yet.

I mean, they might have done it in the last 10 minutes. I haven't seen it but the they did make couple of trades in the last what 12 or so hours hours. They they brought in wide receiver Levisca Chanel from the Jacksonville Jaguars for draft future draft considerations. Speaking of Levisca Chanel, great name.

Oh, it's to me. He sounds like, you know, like a wingback from Brighton. Yeah, that's what he is, man. He's a you know, is a French International.

Sorry. Anyway, he's caught a bunch of passes the last two years got 121 balls in the last two years in Jacksonville, which is impressive to be honest. I mean the fact that he's stayed on the field and has been a productive wide receiver for a terrible team a team that has gotten the first pick in the draft twice in a row. So worst team in the league two years in a row, but as averaged 60 catches a year did not catch a touchdown pass last year caught five in his first year. The truth is is that he's probably more useful as a blocker than he will be as a pass catcher for this team and I'm not saying that he's not going to be useful as a pass catcher. I don't think Levisca Chanel transforms their offense, but I think he can have a positive impact in the run game because he is a really good blocker. He's like 230 pounds at 6-1. He also will run the ball occasionally. He's had almost 30 rushing attempts in two years.

So there's an element of razzle-dazzle with Chanel. So who knows who knows how they're going to use him. Dennis Daley was also sent a guard traded to the Titans for a fifth round pick. So we'll keep tabs on what they are doing. We'll talk about it in a minute. I like that. All right, so ahead of a spectacular weekend to open up the in-state college football season. We had news yesterday that state and app are have agreed to a home at home series. I love this. I like we talked about this yesterday. I love these matchups.

I get the the big boys. This the Carolinas the states. What do we get out of playing these teams? Okay, I can see your point.

I think it's a narrow view, but I can see that point. It helps their recruiting can help yours to win the games. Yeah win the games. It's great for football in the state of North Carolina. Awesome for football in the state of North Carolina. So I'm excited when I was very excited when I saw this series.

Is it true? They haven't played they've only played once and am played since 1980. I think you're right guy. Anyway, first game at the rock in 2025 return match the following year at Carter-Finley Stadium. All right to NC State. They open up down east with a great way again to kick off the regular season. They have a team that will get and keep their attention during practice. Because if you don't take ECU seriously, they will beat you. Dowdy Ficklen Stadium is a great place to play football. It is they have a great home environment super football culture and state has not handled it. Well one and for all time in Greenville, they lost their last meeting 2016 33 to 30. Pack have won the last two in the series though, but I cannot wait for this game. We'll talk about it more in a little bit wolf pack.

Thank you very much. UNC heads up the mountain to meet the program that is probably the state's best. Could we argue based on, you know, relatively speaking in terms of your conference your level? Is there a better football program over the last decade than app state? I'd say no, no, but I don't even think it's close. There might not be a second best in this category might be wake. Maybe yeah app is 73 and 19 in the last seven years.

Add data 73 and 19 in the last seven years. They were seven and five in their first year in FPS and they are 73 and 19 in the last seven Chase Bryce is back. He's like the furniture not just at app everywhere in college football.

He's been around forever. They're incredibly well coached. This is going to be an incredible challenge for UNC a game where right now they're not even favored. They were yesterday.

They're not today. That's what the better is feel about East Carolina. We'll talk more about this matchup in just a couple minutes. Did you watch last night? Did you watch Serena? What could have been her final match at the National Tennis Center?

I'm not going to lie to not I did. I was a little nervous last night and remember yesterday in place our bets. I threw a hundred units on donka kovanich or kovinich from Montenegro hoping to buy Serena a win and you did and I did success. Serena's got the best serve in women's tennis in history and it was not there in the beginning of the match.

But when it showed up the match was over. Kovinich had no chance no threat once Serena got her serve grooved. But the other thing about it was that Serena is incredibly at times incredibly nervous. She was nervous early and she has always battled that in her career. I didn't see her say this yesterday, but I know she has said this before she has 23 Grand Slam titles.

She thinks the number should be 30. She has left a lot of opportunities to win slams on the floor out there on the court. She has choked away a more than a handful. She's the goat.

But one of the things that I think is so interesting about her you may like it you may not but I find it at least interesting is that she has vulnerabilities and bouts of confidence problems that just make her human. And I just think it's awesome and it was great to see her win last night and we get a chance to see her again in primetime on Wednesday night. All of her matches will be in primetime all of them set maybe on the weekend when they might throw her in the daytime where she has to win another match. One more quick story before we get back to the football six more players have jumped from the PGA Tour to live golf that announcement actually came this morning.

It was supposed to officially come yesterday, but it came this morning. I know the headliner is Cam Smith. I know it it's a huge blow. He won the Players Championship. He won the Open Championship. He shot a 63 in the final round to come from four shots back and beat Rory McIlroy there.

He's 29 years old. He is just scratching the surface of his professional golf career. He is a savant as a putter. He's a great iron player. He's got the mullet.

That's that's the headliner I get it. This is a subheadliner also in Joaquin Niemann a good young player who won Tigers tournament in California this year who's also 23 and is just beginning to kind of get his legs in pro golf. But Harold Varner was one of them East Carolina's Harold Varner Gastonia North Carolina's Harold Varner. What's what I find interesting about this is that Varner is a rank and file player.

He's 46th in the world. He hasn't won on the PGA Tour, but he's really popular. And this is also a tough blow for the PGA Tour because I don't know if you watch pro golf. I do aren't a lot of people that look like Harold Varner on the PGA Tour. That's a problem for the PGA Tour by the way, not that Varner is leaving the problem that there aren't a lot of people that look like Harold Varner on the PGA Tour.

So we'll talk more about this in a little bit. But I miss Harold Varner already. Yeah, I miss him in his purple shirt on Sundays. That's his thing. He wears purple on Sundays all the time.

All right back to back to the top. We talked about it being cut down day in the NFL. Panthers have made a couple of trades, nothing earth-shattering. Like I don't even know where Leviska Chennault fits in on the depth chart at wide receiver. I mean their depth chart to me, nobody has taken over that second wide receiver spot.

DJ Moore is the guy. And then after that, it's Terrace Marshall who can't stay healthy, although he's practicing now. Robbie Anderson who is just, I've said this before, he's a poor man's Ted Ginn.

Take that for what you want. I like Ted Ginn. If Robbie Anderson could become Ted Ginn, I think the Panthers would be okay with it. But that means they still need essentially a starter, a number two wide receiver. If DJ Moore is a one, they still need a two.

Right now they're operating, I think, with a one and a bunch of threes and fours. But I think Chennault kind of fits into that group, right? Yeah, it's DJ Moore and then everyone else.

Right. Like I think Shy Smith has been good. I think Shy Smith will make the team. Like they're going to announce their cuts today.

So you've got Anderson, Terrace Marshall, Shy Smith. What happens with Rashard Higgins? What happens with Zylstra? I mean, they're going to cut Zylstra. They signed him. He's a really good special teams player. Andre Roberts probably sticks around because he's a good kick returner. Yeah. They list him as a wide receiver, but he probably sticks around because of the special teams aspect.

I mean, I don't know. I think Higgins has looked good in the preseason. I mean, but they just added Chennault to that list.

So you've got that. And he traded Dennis Daley. The offensive line should be deeper than it's ever been. What do you make of quarterback? Keyshawn Johnson.

We've talked about this before. I said this when they made the trade. I don't expect Baker Mayfield to be the starting quarterback next year. Or at least the quarterback of the future next year.

Keyshawn thinks otherwise. I think he will wind up keeping this job and doing enough to get himself a nice extension and be the quarterback of the future for the Carolina Panthers. You know, Sam Darnold is just, he's snake bitten.

I mean, that's just the reality of it. You know, I don't know that he'll ever get a real true opportunity to be a starting quarterback in the National Football League again. That opportunity just went out the window with the Carolina Panthers. Keyshawn Johnson really does love to talk about Sam Darnold. USC guys. Nobody talks about Sam Darnold more than Keyshawn Johnson, man. USC guys. That is hysterical from Keyshawn, JWill, and Max every morning on ESPN radio.

You can listen to it on 99.9 The Fan of Raleigh. Here's the thing about Baker Mayfield. I think he has to have a spectacular season to get himself a contract that befits a quarterback of the future.

Right? I can see him getting another contract from the Panthers, but it isn't going to be the contract that you would say, that guy's the top half of the NFL starting quarterback. I don't think he's going to get that unless he has a spectacular season. And a spectacular season means that he's the difference between, I'm not even going to say playoffs and not playoffs, but he's the difference between nine wins and six wins.

It has to be that. I don't know that that's going to happen. All right. To college football. Again, love what we have coming up this weekend. And again, real quick, NC State and AP, 25 and 26, they will play a home-and-home series. Great for the state. This is year four for Mike Houston with the Pirates program. And I want to extend my apologies right off the hop to them because I do believe that Saturday is not about them.

No, it's not. I don't want to disparage because I think ECU, especially at a seven-win season last year, it is clear that there is a build going on and Mike Houston is an outstanding football coach. Holt Nailers, Raje Harris, Keaton Mitchell, C.J.

Johnson. They've got a bunch of guys back. They're getting better. But this is about NC State. It's about seizing an opportunity. It's about taking advantage of a schedule that isn't easy but is manageable.

And in some ways, it's a little bit of a final exam for the program. And it starts in a very, very difficult environment for Dave Doran at Dowdy-Fickler. You know, crowd noise would be great to be involved in an atmosphere like that. We know that their fans will be loud. And for us, it's something we need. We need to go play on the road and play in front of a fan base like that. And obviously, we're going to come home after this game for three weeks and then have to go play at Clemson. And that will be our next time to really have that. So I'm excited we have that challenge in our opener as well. Let me just throw a couple of things at you.

We'll hear more from Dave Doran on this later. Three times in the last five seasons, NC State's won nine games. Probably would have been ten last year, but the bowl game, you know, COVID, all that. But every year, with probably just one exception and that being the COVID year, where they went seven and three, State left at least one win on the table.

And I think in most of those years, you might have said they left two wins on the table. Right? This is the season where they cannot afford that. You can't have this kind of talent on both sides of the ball. You can't.

And not get the most out of it. I don't know what the most ultimately turns out to be. Is the most getting to the ACC championship game in Charlotte? Maybe. Is the most getting to the college football playoff?

I don't know. I mean, somebody's going to have to be team four. I don't believe, like, I think it's wide open for team four. It's wide open for somebody to have that kind of a year and be team four. Not saying State's a favorite for that. I'm just saying, I don't know. But nine wins with this group? I just, it's got to be better.

It has to be better. I think we're going to find out a lot about what this program's ceiling is this year. I think that's what we're going to find out. Real quick to UNC before we have to button this segment up. And we're going to talk to Ryan Wilson of CBSSports.com about the NFL next.

So, Carolina's heading up the mountain. They're going to meet App State. Maybe the best, not maybe, they are the best football program in the state. And App goes into every single game thinking they're going to win. Every game.

They don't, they believe it because they do it. Seventy-three wins in the last seven years. They play good football in the Sunbelt, people.

You know it. They play good football in the Sunbelt. App has ducked nobody.

And they battle all the time. Mac Brown is going to get another look at App's quarterback, Chase Bryce. Chase Bryce, we will have played him at three different programs to show you what the transfer portal's done. He was on the Clemson team and didn't play when we played our first year. Then we played him at Duke our second year.

And now here we are at App State. And he's done a tremendous job. He won state championship in high school at Georgia. He's a six-year quarterback. He's old. He's older than me. All right.

You're an old man. One other thing about this matchup. Carolina about a month and a half ago was a three-point favorite. Yesterday, they were a one-and-a-half point – a one-point favorite.

This morning, it's App by a point-and-a-half. Mac Brown understands the challenge. They're experienced with confidence. And we're not. And the other thing is we haven't won on the road. So all odds are against us this weekend. We're banged up. We're taking a first-year quarterback to Boone.

They've got a six-year guy. We're going to a hostile environment, and we haven't played well on the road in those. So we got our hands full, and we're going to have to play great to have a chance to win. We're going to have to play great to have a chance to win.

And he's right. They are. Now, they can play great. And if they do, they'll have a chance to win. Again, App believes they are the better team.

There is no question about it. We will talk with Adam Whitten, who's the voice of App State, coming up in hour number two. But I expect that to be an amazing football game. Wait a second. Both games are at noon? Yeah. What? Come on, ESPN.

Be better. That first one, the state ECU game is an ESPN game? State ECU, yeah.

Right after game day. So Carolina App is an ESPN U game? Correct. Come on. Well, the state of North Carolina is owning noon on the ESPN networks. Come on. Flip. Get one of them.

Get one of them at least at 3.30. Adam Gold in studio with my friend Coach Pete DeRuta with the Capital Financial Advisory Group. We are talking retirement. Coach, how does longevity risk figure into our retirement and income plan?

This is the best of times and the worst of times, Adam. Longevity risk means we're going to live too long. But to me, every day I live is not too long. Right.

Absolutely. So we want our money to outlive us. And unfortunately, many people I've seen, you out there listening, maybe one of them, your money is not designed to outlive you. You might outlive your money, and that's not what we want to have happen. Because when we get to that day after you run out of money, it's not going to be a fun time. It's the kind of plan that guarantees you'll never run out of money. We call it the GPI plan, Growth Protection Lifetime Income, for the next 10 people. This is a golden ticket, Adam. A thousand-dollar value, we're going to do it at no cost or obligation. And all you have to do is call. We make it so easy.

Would you like financial independence into your retirement? And beyond it, 800-661-7383. That golden ticket is a $1,000 value. Or you could text Adam to 21000 for Coach Pete DeRuta. One casualty of the Leviska-Chineau trade appears to be Keith Kirkwood. Panthers released Kirkwood, who, I mean, I honestly don't remember playing. But they had him, and they've had him for a couple of years. But they don't have him anymore. He was waived.

Ryan Wilson, who is not, he is definitely making the 53-man roster from CBSSports.com, our friend. How are you? I'm good, Adam. How are you doing, man? I'm doing very well.

Thanks for doing this. It's cut-down day. These are difficult, first of all, difficult days to keep tabs on what's going on.

Because it's like a revolving door. I mean, there's so much news going out there. Is there anything that you are hearing that would be surprising? I know the Buccaneers have waived Tyler Johnson, who has been a pretty big part, even though they have a very deep receiving core. He's been a big part of that over the years, the last couple of years. Anything else that you are hearing that would be a surprise?

No, nothing that hasn't already been reported. The Tyler Johnson thing is interesting. I remember when he was coming out, he came out the year before Rashad Bateman did at Minnesota, and he was the dude there. And I remember talking to the scout during that process, because he would have been working on this. He said, I have a stack of papers this high, a couple inches high, of guys just like Tyler Johnson.

And he never really took off. And I think that's sort of, we love college football. And we fall in love with these guys for what they're able to do at the highest college level.

And sometimes it just doesn't translate. That's one example, Kellen Mond. I love Kellen Mond coming out of Texas A&M.

I mean, I like him a lot. And I still go text from scouts, one scout in particular, that makes fun of me for being Kellen Mond. It clearly didn't work out in Minnesota. And he went one pick ahead of Davis Mills. So again, it just sort of reinforces how hard it is to figure out which guy is going to be good and which guy isn't.

And it a lot of times has less to do with on the field and has to do with everything else going on, whether it's family, whether it's where they are, you know, above the neck and all sorts of things, injuries. So this is a crazy day. Not quite as crazy as the first few days now, a free agency.

But but certainly a whirlwind. And what's going to happen in a couple hours, as you know, Adam, is that some of these guys are going to get signed by other teams and players that originally made the 53-man roster will get prompted cut. That's right.

You cut down to two fifty three at four o'clock or whenever and then more. They're going to be signings and more cuts. So we're not even done yet. Chasserette, also former Tarrio linebacker, also released by the Minnesota Vikings. Real quick, your thoughts on the wide receiver the Panthers got from Jacksonville.

Levisca, Chanel. I know he's big guy. Good blocker. Interesting. Your thoughts on that.

Again, another guy I love coming out of Colorado. Get injuries. Didn't want to combine.

I don't think or if you get you win those. So I have to go back and look. But that was a concern. And I just talked it up to getting over the injuries coming out of college. And here's the thing. And this is something that I'm going to my fifth year.

I think I'm doing the draft. It's just that easy to fall in love with guys. But sometimes the numbers are what the numbers are. If you don't run one college, it's incredibly difficult to be successful in the NFL. And I kind of compared to Anquan Bolden and he had some of that physicality. Anquan ran a four seven two, I think he was special. He didn't play at that speed.

It feels like sometimes when you watch him play, he plays a little slower than that. And that's a concern. And that's obviously the reason that the Jaguars have gone from. But sometimes this happens and this happens. I feel like it's going to happen Baker.

I think fresh start for what you need. And you come to a situation where you're valued. And you can you can ride a ship that didn't go well the first few seasons. And he's still incredibly young. And I think he has a lot to give. But I think he's going to have to start playing faster and being more consistent, because I didn't see that consistently at Jacksonville. And clearly Doug Peterson in turn about the same way doesn't mean he's not a good player.

He just needs to do it on a more consistent basis. You know, I know you're high on Baker. The Panthers as a team have been looking for really a compliment to D.J. Moore. Moore is the guy they are clearly invested in.

He is going to be their best. But they really don't have a two. I don't I don't think Robbie Anderson is more anything more than I call him a D.H. To me is a home run hitter.

Everything else just doesn't do enough of it well. I think they would like Terrace Marshall to step up and be the number two, but he's had trouble staying on the field. Shy Smith looks like an interesting prospect, but I don't think he's number two wide receiver material. Can Chanel be a two?

In theory, yes. But again, you have to play like he played in Colorado. Right.

He has to be that's with Army knife. He was virtually they found ways to put the ball in his hands, whether it's on end around quick screens, slants. He would win down the field with a cervicality and those things have yet to translate.

Jaxmo. But yeah, absolutely. When he was coming out, he could have you thought of him as a two late first night, early second round guy that could come in and compete. And we just haven't seen that yet. Maybe he's had, you know, nagging injuries over these last few years. I have no idea in terms of athleticism. Terrace Marshall is might be one of the best athletes in my team. He's a better athlete than the Biscus.

But like you said, that also hasn't translated. Again, it's just figuring out the calculus of what it takes for young players to make the transition from college to NFL. And sometimes it hits and comes out of nowhere like Steph Diggs.

It was a day three pick. And sometimes you just you left scratching your head wondering, OK, what did we miss here? And that's where I'm at on on love.

He's got that on. I'm going on their list of guys. But that's part of the process. You know, it's funny.

I've talked about this before and I'm sure you have come across this thought. The there are so many wide receivers coming out of college and the Steelers are probably the best at this, as in the entire league in identifying wide receivers in the third, fourth, fifth round that become great. I don't understand why any team invests in a wide receiver in the first round, because there are so many of them. I mean, it's ridiculous how many wide receivers there are coming out of college every year. And you can just get one in the second round, third round. You can get guys who can play and end up starring for you.

Why? Why do teams invest in first round wide receivers? Yeah, no, that's I mean, look, Jamar Chase I get. But don't forget, Jamar Chase a year ago was talked about how he couldn't catch the football because he doesn't have a stripe on it. But Jalen Rager, I don't know if he has been released yet, but he's on the verge of potentially not earning a spot in Philadelphia.

The pick right after him was Justin Jackson. You don't know. And then add to your point, you can wait in round two, three, four, five. And you can find guys get tripped right away because high school is circled on the high school where they have these wide open offenses.

Now, as you know, Adam, we see in college all the time. And it might make more sense to focus on offensive line, quarterback, defensive line, cornerback, whatever in the first round and then circle back. I think there's I saw this headline. I didn't read it a study, perhaps for football focus somewhere else, perhaps where it doesn't make sense to take a running back in round two or three. You should focus on wide receivers there because running backs. Yep. As we've been saying for years, you can find those guys on day three and they'll contribute right away.

So I think that I don't think this is outrageous to say. And I sort of agree with you, but I would be focusing on quarterback, offensive line, cornerback. Yep. In round one and then fill in the holes after that, because and, you know, you mentioned the Steelers, those playmakers they have are top five in terms of upside. But that offensive line is bottom two or three. It's a worse unit than the Panthers because they haven't addressed it.

And then that's going to be a huge concern for them this year. All right. You brought up the Steelers. Let's get to it. I find the irony of this.

I think it's irony might be coincidence. Delicious. A few years ago, Mike Glennon, friend of mine, was signed to a free agent contract to be the starter by the Chicago Bears. He went to Wrigley Field. He threw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field and then the Bears traded up to draft Mitch Trubisky. So fast forward to this year, Trubisky signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers, theoretically, to be their starting quarterback. They draft Kenny Pickett 20th, I believe, overall. And is Pickett going to kind of replace Trubisky already as the starter in Pittsburgh? Let me ask you a quick question, Adam. Did Trubisky start that season, that rookie season, over Mike?

I believe he did. So here's the difference. And this may, if you could go back in revisionist history, you might want to start going in there. And this is why I'm for starting Trubisky. He's actually played well in the preseason.

Sure. All three quarterbacks, Pickett and it makes real sense, have all played about the same. But here's the concern, and I'll start with the offensive line.

If you could, can you pick it out there in week one against the Bengals and he gets sacked 40 times? He's probably done mentally for the year. It's unfair to him. Now, Trubisky's been around the block. He's almost like the taxman.

He's used to it. Exactly. He's the guy you put out there for four or five or six games.

And if things go well, great. If not, then it's not a situation where you start Pickett and you feel so bad that you have to take him out of the game. And then the math becomes, when do I put him back in?

October, November, December. Right. Sort of what we saw with Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tua Tongrai Loa, where Brian Flores kept going back and forth and got to the point that they missed the playoffs because they needed to win one more football game. And there was so much uncertainty in the quarterback position.

Had they stuck with Ryan Fitzpatrick, they probably wouldn't have made the playoffs. I don't know if Mr. Biscay's the long-term answer. I don't think anyone thinks he is.

Pickett seems to have a bright future. But don't go up to the Wolves if the offensive line isn't where it needs to be. And it's nowhere close to where it needs to be. Otherwise, he's just getting the ball one read and probably trying to run the football.

And that doesn't benefit anyone. All right. Two very quick things for Ryan Wilson before we have to say goodbye. You mentioned Tua Tongrai Loa. I know there was a lot said about how great Tua looks, how great Tua looks, how great Tua looks. I'm not really buying any of it. Like, I have nothing against, I hope for the kid's sake, that he is the guy. But I don't, I'm not buying that they're buying into Tua Tongrai Loa as an organization.

I think it's fake it till you make it. And I give Tyree Kill a lot of credit. Instead of Antonio Browning it and coming along and just blasting everyone, he's talking up his quote about, to the point where we're all like, yes, no one thinks that Tua's better than Patrick Mahomes. Let's settle down with that. But I get it.

And, but here's the other thing, and I was guilty of this. I had Tua ranked a little higher than Justin Herbert coming out. Justin Herbert clearly is one of the best players in the NFL. Didn't play it like that this time of year at Oregon, and Tua played at a high level before the hip injury. So I get why the Dolphins took him where they did, but there's a reason they went after Tom Brady, quote unquote, allegedly. And it's because they thought they could fix that position. So this is what it feels like.

The two was prove it here. If he comes up there and throws 20 touchdowns and 20 interceptions, they're probably getting a quarterback. And they have too many players around them not to have a quarterback who can take them to the next level. And there's no reason this team can't win more than non-football games with the talent around them. But Tua has to step up. Wasn't just Tom Brady.

They tried to trade for Deshaun Watson as well. All right. Final thing. Are the Saints a sexy Dark Horse pick maybe to win the NFC South? Yep, absolutely. I've been saying this all summer.

And I think this is sort of the buck in your step back here. In part because Tom Brady can't be perfect forever. I've been saying this all summer. Although every time he ends up being perfect. But I do wonder with the time off, he is 45.

At some point it has to, the wheels have to come off a little bit. They've lost some key players to injury. And Jayness Woodson was actually really good last year before he aired his ACL in late October. And they added Chris Alavi. Now the left back position is going to be an interesting one because Trevor Pending got hurt. They drafted. He might be out for a while. So they lost the arm set to the Dolphins.

So that's a concern. But the defense is really good. That division isn't great. And if Tampa Bay is just slightly better than average, they win nine or maybe 10 football games. I think that's an opening for the Saints to make some noise. And I think Jayness and an offense where he's not relied upon to fill the ball, you know, 500 times a game has an opportunity for success. So I think absolutely they'll have a chance to make a run, win that division and maybe make a little noise in January or February. It'll be interesting. We'll see if Dennis Allen can pick up where his boss, Sean Payton, left off.

Ryan Wilson, thank you so much, my friend. The season is a mere dozen days away. Actually, maybe yet. No, eight days away, nine days away.

I don't even know math. Well, thank you very much as always. We'll talk to you soon then. Thank you, Adam.

You got it. Over the crossbar! And the Hurricanes have won the Stanley Cup! June 19th, 2006. But it all started May 6th, 1997, with the announcement that the Hartford Whalers were coming to North Carolina. It's a story of transition, of heartbreak, of figuring it out on the fly. The Cane's Corner look at the 25th anniversary of the move. Presented by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina. Listen now.

Find Cane's 25th anniversary wherever you get your podcasts. For a lot of this show during the last three months, I have discussed my thoughts on the PGA Tour versus live golf and that whole thing. And it's not a secret that I am pro PGA Tour. Not for the reason some are pro PGA Tour. I do think it's the place that is the best example of professional golf. But if you think that the better golf is live, that's fine. Go watch it. I have watched.

It's okay. It's just golf. There's no drama to that tour at this point. Maybe there will be in the future. I don't know. For the most part, I think the guys who have left for live golf have made mistakes. Have made a mistake in doing so. Unless they believe that their careers are essentially on the downside. Bill Mickelson took $200 million.

Okay. His career was pretty much over as a PGA Tour regular player. Of course, he could have played PGA Tour Champions events, including one in Cary here. SAS Championship. Yeah, SAS Championship in October. He could have played that for the next 10 years.

It's October. Yeah, he won that a bunch of times. He won three out of the four Champions Tour events he played in last year. I mean, he can win.

He can win on that tour forever and just be a celebrity and play 54 hole events. But he chose this. Whatever. He chose that.

I don't think it's a great idea for a lot of the guys who have chosen it. But one guy who made the announcement was announced today, this morning, is a guy who went to East Carolina. From Gastonia, North Carolina, in Harold Varner III. The way I look at it. Harold Varner III made the right decision for Harold Varner III. Because.

And this is going to sound like shade, but it's not. It's just reality of where Harold Varner is as a PGA Tour pro. He is a rank and file member of the tour. He's never won.

Not on tour. He has won in Australia. He did win the Saudi Invitational, I believe this year. Maybe last year. So he has wins in his past, just not on the PGA Tour.

Yeah. He's had plenty of opportunities to win on the PGA Tour. He just hasn't been able to close the deal. That doesn't mean that he can't win on the PGA Tour. Just that he's a rank and file player. He's a top. I know he's 46th in the world, but he's probably a top, you know, anywhere from 40 to 80 player on tour. Yeah.

He's a middle of the pack PGA Tour pro. And that's fine. He's still making a good amount of money doing that. Absolutely.

But you can't make the money that you can make. Guaranteed. Yeah. On live.

It's a grind for those guys. So for Harold Varner, the third, when their tour expands to 14 events next year, and he's going to get a guaranteed payday and he's already shown that he will play overseas. Remember, his first win was in Australia. His other win was in Saudi Arabia. He's comfortable traveling, by all means, because half the events will be here.

Half the events will be elsewhere. It's a great move for him. He doesn't. I'm not saying he doesn't have major championship aspirations, but he's never had success. This was the first year he played in all four majors. He had never played in all four majors before. So if you're Varner, this is actually OK.

This is a good deal for you. Now, I don't know the long term future of live golf. Assuming that it sticks around, but in order for them to stick around, they're going to have to get world rankings points. If it sticks around, then Harold Varner will have a place to play until they decide that they no longer need Harold Varner.

That's the thing. There's really nowhere to go after when you make that decision. Real quick on two of the other guys who made that made similar decisions. Cam Smith just won the Open Championship. Joaquin Neiman, who is 23 and has a couple of PGA Tour wins to his credit, but no majors.

With so much of your career ahead of you. And both of you guys played in the Tour Championship and are both going to bank on the golf course this year between 10 and 15 million dollars. Or could have. I don't get it.

I don't get it. Cam Smith. I think Cam Smith is a big loss for the PGA Tour, as is Harold Varner because nobody looks like Harold Varner really on the PGA Tour.

And Joaquin Neiman. They're all losses for the PGA Tour. But what I don't understand is why people haven't said that this is also a loss for Cam Smith. Right now, there's no visibility on live golf. Maybe they get a TV contract, but it is not going to be a TV contract that airs PGA Tour events. That is not going to happen. My guess is.

They probably stay. Online. Not that you can't watch it. I can.

I watched I watched some of it streaming on YouTube. I just I just don't get the visibility of it. Is not basically nonexistent. Don't think it's a good deal for them, but guaranteed money. Hard to argue with guaranteed money. Final thing on this is that I have said this before. I've never argued about the Saudi thing.

I've always wondered, man, what would I do if the Saudis were interested in sports radio? I'm but I'm and I'm a rank and file guy. I'm just like Harold Varner III. Like I'm not I'm not disparaging because of that.

I just think the PGA Tour is a better place to play golf. This is the Adam Gold Show. June 19th, 2006, but it all started May 6, 1997, with the announcement that the Hartford Whalers were coming to North Carolina. It's a story of transition, of heartbreak, of figuring it out on the fly. The Canes Corner look at the 25th anniversary of the move presented by the Aluminum Company of North Carolina. Listen now. Find Canes' 25th anniversary wherever you get your podcasts.