Think paying top dollar for top talent guarantees a winning NFL season? Think again. In this eye-opening episode, we unpack the tricky dynamics of the NFL's salary cap, spotlighting instances where high spending teams failed to meet expectations.
Think paying top dollar for top talent guarantees a winning NFL season? Think again. In this eye-opening episode, we unpack the tricky dynamics of the NFL's salary cap, spotlighting instances where high spending teams failed to meet expectations.
Just a statue ready. Johnson, eugene more and coming to you from love the city of Atlanta, georgia and Eugene. We have a Interesting situation here when it comes to the cap and the correlation between Super Bowl championships and caps, because we talk about this a Lot on the show. We're welcome to the just stats on our YouTube page to talk Spotify wherever you may be listening, wherever you may be watching. We definitely appreciate it, and we've talked a lot of times on the show about how the money spent equates to the trophies worn, and we could see, if we were talking a little bit of baseball here, how that's not working out for the New York Mets this year. Right, sometimes the money you spend, there's a direct correlation between the money you spend and how much you're going to be winning, and, which is interesting because you think and and it's kind of like Metaphor for life, so to speak right, in the sense of not everything that is high cost is going to be better for you, right, right right.
Speaker 1:Have you ever been to a restaurant? Eugene like, and you pay out the you pay. You're paying out the ass for this meal, man. Yes when you like three pieces of lettuce and some squiggled dressing on a plate and you're like man, I could have just went to McDonald's. Man, grab me a Big Mac and fries. Man, yes, perfect, yeah, yeah it was fun.
Speaker 2:We went. We're out of town. I was in training two weeks ago and they keep these people kept recommending the steak place and we went there and it paid for it. So it wasn't on my dime, but I would have been mad if I would pay for exhibit steak that I can make. I could make this, take it home and I mean I would have been fine with it. But if I'm going somewhere and I'm paying top price for this, for a prime, you know, prime rubber whatever a prime, just a.
Speaker 2:Cut, cut, nice cut steak. I want the thing to be like just I want to taste it and just melt. This is not it right.
Speaker 1:It needs to be perfection right. Yes, money's being like I could have bought like 30 or 30s of my own Stakes for this price you know so you do see some correlations between that and the NFL here.
Speaker 1:The first slide we're gonna talk about is our Highest player paid, highest player salary cap the last two seasons. Let's see if we can go. Let's go full screen here for this man. Let's go full screen. Let's do it. Let me see, let's see how I go full screen. That's, that's the first thing, right, we got to see how, oh, you know what. Let's see here you do go up to the top here. Let's go. Boom. There we go. We are full screen now for the people here.
Speaker 1:Now, what's interesting here is, like, you look at the highest player caps here and there is not as necessarily a correlation to being the high, having the highest paid player on your team and having Success as a team throughout the season. Now we're we'll get to Super Bowl. How this correlates to Super Bowl is later on here in the show, but I'm gonna go through this for some of the podcast audience if they can't, if they can't see what's going on here. So, at 2013, eli Manny was the highest paid, giant's are seven and nine, namek is Sue, or and this is cap it actually. So we, some of these players had a highest paid and the highest, cap it. But they're not always the same thing. Just so the audience knows it can they can be different and I'm a can sue. 2014 the Lions went 11 and five. That's pretty good, drew Brees. 2015, saints seven and nine. Maybe he got injured there, I'm not sure, because Drew Brees didn't really have a lot of losing seasons. Eugene.
Speaker 1:So it might maybe there's an injury situation there, right? Eli Manning 2016. The Giants of course 11 and 5. Joe Flacco 2017 9 and 7. That's, that's pretty good. You know, you got a few winning seasons in there, and this is kind of where things turn to turn the corner here, because 2017 is gonna be the last year where you had the highest paid player and 20 record Jimmy, jimmy G and we all know Jimmy G's had some nagging injury issues. Jimmy G has a Highest cap 2018 49ers 4 and 12. Matthew Stafford 2019 Lions 3, 12 and 1. That's that one is always interesting. We didn't done a minute any favors. Anyway. It would have been 4 and 12 even if that was a win. That press got 2020 Cowboys 6 and 10. Russell Wilson 2021 Seahawks 7 and 10. And and Ryan Tannehill would. That's interesting, right? Ryan Tannehill 2022 with the Titans 7 and 10, and I think Ryan Tannehill also has an injury issues in there as well.
Speaker 2:That Jimmy.
Speaker 1:G is five years we're.
Speaker 2:Both were both injury years.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then Russell was injured three games in that 2021 season as well and Stafford, when you go back to the Lions. He had an injury in that in that season as well. So I guess it's definitely a correlation between health. It just get because you're getting paid, the more your cap hit may be a certain way, it doesn't mean that that's gonna keep you healthier, keep you on the field or Spell good fortune for your team. What's your thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:you do Well, I mean, well, I know flakos was. He came off. The Super Bowl wins, of course he gets yes, he bet on himself, man.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna tell you how to bet on self year yeah um, at least you can, I could, I can.
Speaker 2:The Eli years, at least he wants to bowl. Dreamers won a Super Bowl. It's like when you get down to and we know Stafford, when he went to the Rams was football but you didn't town to the Tannehills, the Dax and Jimmy G's and I know Jimmy took the night or two Super Bowl but you can't start into that man and you're paying and top dollar for Sue. I love him, I think he's great, but that's for a defensive guy. He should never be your highest player player on a cap, sorry, cap or whatever. So it's, I could forgive them, for you can always forgive, you can always squint and forgive when you win Super Bowl the guys. But man, when you're paying, tannehill and Dak and Jimmy G Flack will flak. O came off the Super Bowl but man, you cut it's out of a lot of guys.
Speaker 1:They were forced to pay black alright.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they have a choice.
Speaker 1:When you it's interesting that you say that when you bring up the endowment concierge point because you're looking here at. If you look at this list, and this is going back the last 10 seasons, here there's only one guy. I'm looking at this list. I think he's the only person that's not a quarterback on this list.
Speaker 1:All nine, nine out of the ten on this list or quarterbacks yeah, he's like it, he's only one that's interesting, but I think that when you go back to that line, here was Matt was already there, stafford was already there, right 20 2014 staffer was yeah, we're still there interesting.
Speaker 1:I'll be interested to see what if staffer maybe he was on a rookie situation, maybe he had already signed, so his cap it wasn't as as bad. Because you know, sometimes when people sign these new deals there, that cap it might not come into play for a couple years down the line, like it could be a situation where they're not seeing a massive cap it in that first year, but in that you get into that second, third or fourth year, whatever the length of that contract is, it becomes more punitive as no down the line.
Speaker 2:You know that's why a lot of guys rework their contracts right, a lot of these contracts, these early contracts, is 2013's, the these were before the rookie contracts were implemented which is crazy.
Speaker 1:Right, because you know when you go back to that time, ladies and gentlemen, if people weren't paying attention back then, you had complete rookies 40, 50 million dollar contracts.
Speaker 2:As soon as they got signed, like yeah, and then the guy that you had there is making like 30 yeah, yeah, matt Ryan was like he was one of the last ones that got one of those really nice like contracts where, when he came out of college, yeah, we came out of BC and then your boy, I think, bradford.
Speaker 1:Sam Bradford, I think, was maybe the last.
Speaker 2:Sam Bradford, I think it was one of the last ones. Yes, that's probably the reason why they changed the rules.
Speaker 1:I mean they're like enough is enough enough, that's enough.
Speaker 2:I mean, there were definitely some other ones, but he got, he's got to be one of the poster boys. He's not by himself. Well, you know, there's definitely some of the guys to be on there with them well, we have the highest team caps here over the last ten seasons.
Speaker 1:Here let's talk about the correlation here between a winning record over the last ten seasons and your team payroll, so to speak. So 2013, the chiefs went 11 and 5 hundred 37 million dollars. 2014, the bills went 9 and 7 at 148 million dollars. In this the payroll. 2015, the jets 10 and 6 153 million dollars. 2016, the Raiders 12 and 4 at 164. 2017, the Panthers 11 and 5 at 175. 2018, the 49ers 4 and 12 at 199.
Speaker 1:Man, goodness, you talk about the match, man, that's, that's horrible, but maybe, maybe there's an injured year yeah, I don't know, maybe that's a correlation there between a Jimmy G injured year and that cap they turned that around in 2019 if, with 13 and 3 record of 49ers did at 221 million, 2020 the Colts 11 and 5 231, 2021 the jets 4 and 13 at 206 and 2022 the Jaguars 9 and 8 at 231. Well, I'll get that Jaguars, I'm interested. It is did they take a lot? I'm gonna give Christian Kirk a massive deal there, right?
Speaker 1:yeah, they were signing it they said it was a rookie see they did sign a bunch of receivers too, so yeah, lawrence, on his rookie did he, he re up. He's still in his rookie contract, so so what is that gonna go to when it's time for him to reapply? How do you?
Speaker 2:know it's gonna be pretty good since he, you know. So they had a great see. The this is their last. They went to with the chiefs last year. So we, so we, and let's see what see we had to do this year. But it's funny. You look at this list. Look at all the smart teams that are on this list that spend the right, the money the right way. Look at the chiefs, the bills. You know. The Niners you know you can. I know they had that bad at. The. 2018 year was a was an injury year for Jimmy G, but that's 2019 year possible appearance. You know, look at all the bad teams that have been just all you would not surprise the Raiders on here, the Panthers you know, the Jets, yeah, you know.
Speaker 1:So it's not surprising that some of these teams that have the Irish team are had better success, because they just had success all around that's interesting point because a lot of team you know it, it it does kind of lend itself to saying that if you do pay a certain amount of money, if you do pay a certain amount of money in the NFL, it can. There can be a correlation there right between success, because when you look at these teams, we have going back the last 10 seasons here one, two, literally two of these teams with the 49ers and the Jets are the only two teams 2018 49ers which we think it's probably a Jimmy G injury year.
Speaker 1:To go back to Jimmy G unfortunately with Jimmy G, you could probably say that most years and and be it accurate.
Speaker 1:And if you were to say that was a Jimmy G injury year, unfortunately that's most of Jimmy G's years, so I'm gonna safely assume that that was what it was for the 49ers.
Speaker 1:And if maybe he wasn't because he didn't tends to win when he plays, so I would assume that they would have had a winning season that year if he especially since in 2019 they went 13 and 3 right I would assume that he would have had a pretty good year if they had played, if he had played, and that would have made it 9 out of the 10 teams, which is almost, I mean, even 8 is pretty, pretty solid.
Speaker 1:It's not saying that you're going to win a Super Bowl by any stretch of the imagination, right, but at least it's a situation where you could say, if you spend the money, there is a correlation between winning games, right, so you don't have, like, the lowest payroll, like it, and maybe there's a happy median there and, as we'll see with some of these slides as we go down the line here, maybe there's a happy median there, but at the end of the day, this is kind of an advocate for spending the money right right, but spend it smart, like have in, you know, invest in your scouting, invest in those guys, invest in your you know, not only your GM's but your assistant GM's here.
Speaker 2:You know that whole, that, the whole side, that nobody want the. You know they only want to talk about that. But those are the you and that's why, that's why you can see the chiefs. They're just, they're just a smart organization from the top to the bottom. The nine right always mean I mean you could probably. I can't remember I mean at 4-12, yeah, you can't remember that 4-12 because 19 washes it away. It's not like they stick around and they'll lose in time. You know they're not sticking out the gutters for a long time like the jets, like the Jaguars, like you're not surprised oh the.
Speaker 2:Jaguars, you know, they're not just because they just recently, you know, they finally turned their fortune around. And the jets, you can still, I mean, that's still in question. I mean we're not giving the jest a super old ring, you know, because they still have to. When in the AMC, the jets still have to go through my home, they still have to go through Herbert, they still. So that might come back to bite them, that might just be a wildcard team for all we know. So it's just, it's funny, like those teams that you just see on here. It's like the ones that are smart. They don't stick around. They may, you know, spend money, but next year around they're gonna, they write the ship.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's gotta be depressing to spend the money and not get that correlation right. To spend the money, yeah, we've done everything. We've done everything right. I'm not a cheap owner. From an owner perspective, I'm not a cheap owner. I went out, I spent the money, and not every season is gonna end in a Super Bowl, but can we at least just not suck? Is that possible you do? Is that possible that?
Speaker 2:we just spend money and not suck. At least a hundred, at least 500 or above, that's all you want. You know, a chance. At least go to play house. At least you're hoping to get at least that props thing. Okay, at least if you get to play house you kind of know what you are, you know what's going on there. But yeah, you're right, let's not suck. That's what we hope for.
Speaker 1:So, speaking of, I don't want to say, speaking of sucking, but it is, but it seems to kind of suck. Let's go to the lowest team salary cap over the last 10 seasons and we'll start in 2013 with the Redskins. Then Washington commanders, now three and 13 at 107 million. 2014,. The Jets four and 12 at 118 million. 2015, the Giants at six and 10 at 128 million. 2016, the Browns at one and 15, oh brutal, 130 million. They weren't spending no money. The Jets 2017 Jets five and 11, the Jets make a few appearances on this list, unfortunately. The 2017 Jets five and 11, 145 for them 2018, colts at 10 and six 144.
Speaker 1:2019, the Chiefs at 12 and four. And this is the anomaly right. These two years are the anomaly 2018 and 2019. Chiefs 12 and four are Super Bowl for them 167. Interesting, interesting, that was Pat Mahone still on that rookie contract there, which seems to be the way to win these days. 2020, the Jets two and 14 at 182. 2021, the Seahawks seven and 10 at 173. And it was the Browns last year at seven and 10. 2022 season the Browns seven and 10 at 187. So when you look at this correlation, eugene, it's kind of like the opposite of what we just looked at, right? When you look at this correlation, if you have the lowest payroll in the NFL, only two teams in the last 10 seasons have winning records 2018, colts and 2019 Chiefs. You can't always bet. If you're not gonna spend any money, you can't bet on Patty Mahomes coming through there to save you. It's only happened once in the last 10 seasons.
Speaker 2:You can't bet on a guy like that to be there. What are your?
Speaker 1:thoughts on this. Again, look at your number one team. I mean that 2013,.
Speaker 2:That's good. The Redskins, the.
Speaker 1:Alcantara. The dumpster fire. Dumpster fire I mean the dumpster fire of a team. Yeah, yeah and that speaks right there.
Speaker 2:They've been that way and hopefully good thing for them. They've got new ownership, so that's a good thing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, it's a new page. A new day, new page they can just move on.
Speaker 2:But the Browns I mean not surprised from last year. They dumped all that money into Sean's and I guess we can see where they're gonna be this year. They've got good talent at least around that team.
Speaker 1:Sean's gotta take a, he's gotta, he's gotta. There's gotta be a step there, bro. There's gotta be a step there for him right.
Speaker 2:But yeah, but the Jets again, the Giants Again. At least you fear that the Giants can go well, at least we won Super Bowls. You know we can say we've won Super Bowl at least in the last decade.
Speaker 2:And so at least they want you to be exact. So, but the Jets, I mean at least the Colts they won Super Bowl, but yeah, it's. You can just see why. You can see why the teams are on here, that those ones are. Are those the ones that just keep having dumpster fire types of teams? And the ones that you know know how to spend their money, like what in the Chiefs, what they do in 2019? No, they had the lowest pay, one of the lowest payrolls, and went to Super Bowl at the same time because they had Patrick Mahomes and they just, they're just smart. They are smart, or J Smart teams, yes, like the Seahawks Seahawks as well. You know they don't. They don't hang around. You know when the writing was the wall they got rid of, you know, russell Wilson, it was time right, and now they're one of the favorites to win the West this year.
Speaker 1:So it's it's which is very interesting, right A? You know Geno-Spinth led team, right yeah, who would ever stop that?
Speaker 2:Who never won a million years would've would've bet that one at all, but that's again. You could see the smarter franchises, you, you, they're like. Oh, I don't remember the Chiefs, you don't remember Seahawks having it losing season because it was, it was washed because they come back the next year and they just they turn it around or they don't stick around, that they're that long Like the Jets, like you, and that the that's when you're in the earth. It's called the Deadskins because that's what they've been.
Speaker 1:the last yeah, oh my God, it's hilarious.
Speaker 2:Right, they just been that way. So I mean, I'm not surprised they're. They're just one of the top teams because they just every year, they, they, just they reach for them, reach for the guy and rather than take the best available guy, they're the one team that talks themselves in. We're the smarter, we're the smarter organization. No, you're not the Chiefs, the Colts Seahawks, those are smart organizations, and even the, even the Giants.
Speaker 2:they don't, like I said, they don't stick around there too long either. Like they are, they know how to brief. You know, they're not scared to throw in the towel, like okay, let's start this, let's start this over and let's get this thing rolling the right way versus. Like the Browns will keep rolling to rolling and skins and those keep living up. Media media rockerty forever.
Speaker 1:I noticed the Browns and the Jets are occupying 50% of this list. Yeah, people who don't want to do the math, but you know there that the Jets and the Browns are occupying half this list is the Jets and the Browns, so there's gotta be some. I could probably extrapolate this out another 20 years and we probably see more appearances by them on these lists At some point. It's gotta be the organization. And once you you don't see on this list is the Patriots. As much as you want to say Right At Tom Brady, tom Brady did help them, but you don't see them on this list for the later years when he was gone either. So it's kind of like your better ran organizations tend to be better ran organizations, your organizations that are a little bit suspect. Hopefully the Jets you know the Jets went for this year. I kind of like their. I like what the Jets are doing this year. I'd like to maybe Maybe they're turning a corner there, eugene Maybe it's a chance for the Jets to get themselves off of lists like this where they're just not paying anybody and at the same time not winning any games and we'll actually see Aaron Rodgers. Kind of bring them, bring them out, so to speak. You know what I mean Bring them out of the football hell that they seem to have been in after Sanchez left. Now this is the one that we were all been waiting for. There it is how does your Super Bowl chances increase when you have the highest or lowest salary cap? So we have the cap rankings here. That's how we did it for the Super Bowl champions.
Speaker 1:Here for our podcast audience, we have the cap rankings of the Super Bowl winning team of that particular year and what their cap ranking is, from top to bottom. So, if I so, for example, the 2013 is a Seahawks. They had the second highest cap that year at 134. 2014 Patriots the seventh highest, at 134,. The 2015 Broncos the sixth highest, at 145,. The 2016 Patriots the 26th highest at 148. That's a pretty big dip. 2017 Eagles third highest at 173,. 2018 Patriots the 18th highest at 176,. 2019 Chiefs 32nd highest at 167,. 2020 Tampa Bay Bucks 15th. Thank you, tom Brady, I guess for that 200 million. 2021 Rams 23rd highest at 184. In the 2022 Chiefs 21st highest at 205.
Speaker 1:You know, what's interesting about this list is when you look at over let's go back the last 10 years Eugene, only four of these teams are even in the single digits, only two of these teams are in the top five highest payrolls.
Speaker 1:So I think that this is just goes to show that, if you want, if I'm, if I'm and I guess I'll sum this up we'll say, on Super Bowl, and I'll sum this up when we get to the, to the next, uh, to the last slide, and we're wrapping this up, but I will say that your Super Bowl chances don't increase. Which you don't see on here is the number one, right? You don't see the top paid team in the last 10 years being the highest payroll, as a matter of fact. You do see the 30s. You see the last team with the Chiefs in 2019. So you do have one, at least one of those, but you don't have a first highest payroll on here for at all the last 10 years that have been become Super Bowl champions. And another thing, just piggybacking off your point here, eugene these teams are smart ran teams smart ran teams right.
Speaker 1:These teams aren't? You don't have any dummy teams on here. You don't have any of those teams sneaking in here, um, so what are your thoughts here, just overall, on, on the correlation between the cap ranking, or your payroll ranking, so to speak, and your Super Bowl winning chances?
Speaker 2:Well it's. I mean you said you hit it right on the head. But I mean, if you look at some of these, you dig deep and tell me like okay, like we've already said, the Chiefs fund that year with Mahomes, that was on his rookie contract but look at so not anomaly to me, by the way, right. Sure. So they added that Kelsey and um Hill on that team, right? So? And now you they go, what? What's the way they do? And this is again they love Super Bowl in 2021. I'm sorry, or was?
Speaker 1:it 2021?
Speaker 2:They lost that. That might have been me. What are your? Yes, the year they lost to the, I think it was 2020. It was 2020. That's right, 2020.
Speaker 2:So what did they do? They went and they said, by by Hill, we're going to take your money and we're going to rebuild the line. And what right? So they rebuild that line and made it better because they protected the correct asset. And they, again, that's what they did. They spent the money wisely, bucks. You know what they lost. They lost Brady. Brady's not coming back.
Speaker 2:So what do they do? Oh, we know what we're going to sign Baker Mayfield. Who cares? Right, we're going to, you know, with that, that quarterback we drafted. You know he's, he's, he was, he was, he had a Heisman or he, he's a Heisman race. He was, he was invited. We'll see. We'll see what he can do, but they don't. They're not being dumb and going out and going getting like, oh, let's get Derek Carr in here, maybe he can win for us. Nope, we're going to suck this year and we're going to get one of those awesome quarterbacks coming out next year. Same thing with Eagles. Eagles did the same thing. Right, the one Super Bowl, and, and and. It's like, okay, what we and, and they just again kind of the team didn't know. I mean it kind of just fell apart just because Carson Wentz, you know it, just he just wasn't him.
Speaker 1:He just, he just fell apart in every destination that they're after as well.
Speaker 2:Right, but again, what do they do? Drafted their number, drafted their number one quarterback in the second round of what I mean, what did he do? He took a Super Bowl. It's like, it's like those little things that they just they're so smart and it's like, look at the Patriots. The Patriots are just known for like hey, we'll find they'll sign a flyer guy, a bunch of flyer guys on defense, because, because you know, they have the one of the best defensive coaches ever in Belichick, and oh, what do they do? But just keep going back to Super Bowls because again, they had Tom Brady on the cheap contract.
Speaker 2:So, look at every single one of these franchises and look at, look at your Rams Rams. Do not care about draft picks, they do not care. We will, we will.
Speaker 1:That was the year they loaded up, man. Yes, that's the year they loaded up with a, a deal on everybody. They said we're going for it, man.
Speaker 2:We're going for it. They got staffer and he went for it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, like they're going all in this year and you know what we might suck for next few years, but what do we get the ring out of it? And that's just look at all these teams that just they're constantly, always going to be around. I mean even even the, the Patriots last year. I mean you're not, you're not lying, you know, you're not, could protect and predict them to be a circle, but they're not. They're not poorly ran. You know they're still a 500 team and they're still, they're still watchable. Like there's some teams out, like like the Browns are just the. How many years have they been unwatchable? You know?
Speaker 1:how many years that they've been?
Speaker 2:based on the Browns fan base still showing up for these teams.
Speaker 1:It was same thing too with the commanders, as well Like these are storied franchises, right, that go back into history, right, you're storied franchises and they can't seem to to get over, get over, to hump there, so to speak. On our last slide here, and it's this is very fitting that our last slide does have a picture of Tom Brady here. Yep, sir, because Brady occupied 40% of that last list that we were on.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Brady occupied 40% of that list, so it's only right there. We have Brady here and the money. This is just the breakdown of the money that's spent here on on franchises. As I try to go back to my screen here, which I can't seem to do, money spent here on franchises is from a statistical standpoint, and you know, what's interesting here is and I don't think it's really nothing to see here that your, your quarterbacks, usually the highest paid, right.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:You got your your heart will let the people look at the numbers specifically, because these numbers kind of ended in 2021. These, the statistics that are on the screen kind of go up to 2021 here. But I would break down the position by position for our podcast audience here. And it's no secret of where the money spent. Right, You're getting here. I mean, this is a quarterback league, right, and that's why a lot of if you're let's say that you're a novice, you watch football a little bit, but you want to sound like you're knowledgeable to your friends and everything like that. And they're asking you hey, what kind of season am I going to have? Guys, you don't need to be a football savant to know that if a team does not have a quarterback, you are not winning in this league.
Speaker 1:You're not winning If your quarterback is not great, and that's as Patrick Mahomes showed you, even though he is an anomaly, and the same thing with Tom Brady, an anomaly as well. But these players have shown you that you don't necessarily need to be the highest paid quarterback, you don't necessarily need to be the highest paid team, but you damn sure have to have one, and teams recognize this from a from a money perspective right Now. What's interesting here is just the fall off of the running back position, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's just yeah, but that's we've just seen that last few years. That's, that's that's telling, cause you, like you said, the year. I think if you look at that list it's your quarterback, your receivers and your offensive lineman, because again has someone throw it to you and someone's got to protect them.
Speaker 1:So we're not going to pay a quarterback all this money, man and not, and have as us getting ran over back there all the time You're going to have to pay somebody to protect the guy right.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:Exactly Now. What's interesting too, as a wide receiver, I really feel like when I was growing up watching football, this is just not the way it was. Like the wide receiver seems to have taken it, and not even just from a football standpoint in real life, even from a fantasy standpoint back in the day, in fantasy football, fantasy players. You could take this and we're going to, we're going to wear, but we'll punt on wide receiver, We'll take a wide receiver.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you take two.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, You're going to take those running backs early, right, and there's still some, some knowledge, there's still some sound advice in that, depending on who the running backs are on any given year. But a player like the Cooper Cubs and and I'm skipping missing his name here from the from Minnesota Vikings.
Speaker 2:Jefferson.
Speaker 1:Yeah, jefferson, change your life. Yeah, jefferson on your fantasy team will change your life. I'll tell you that. It says you had him last year. You get some of these key receivers on your team. They're going to change your life and this is kind of what it's been for the actual teams. For the actual teams Take just Jefferson off of the Vikings Last year. I don't know if they, if they go off on that eight, nine and one record, whatever they were on, you know that's because Justin Jefferson was out there being a beast. Right, he's beasted out there and then yet, at a feeling that you could throw it to yet a couple different players you mean Osborne was getting involved you have a couple different receivers you could throw it to. It'll change fortune here for your teams. Is there anything in the defensive numbers that surprised you there?
Speaker 2:No, I just, you just don't see like, I just just teams, oh I know I don't like, I like, I like the idea, like you said, like we said, like what I look with faculty doing is spreading the money around the defensive side of the ball, because I just, I just I've always believed that philosophy. I mean, unless you just have a legit edge guy. But I mean I just rather have just bunch of guys Give me like the like, like the Patriots man, they just have fun. They just have a bunch of guys on manageable contracts. They don't. And if, if the one guy goes down, they're not, they're not hurt by that.
Speaker 2:Like when Chase Young went down for the skins, that was it. I mean I was not saying there they were gonna be a Top team anyway, but there that was your top team, that was her top draft pick and he's gone. He was gone for that you. He was gone that whole year and you know was an e-injury so it took him almost this past season to get back on the field. Now they're not even gonna pick up. His feature option is like now if he goes somewhere else pressing, right?
Speaker 1:Yeah right, you pretty much has paid a guy to produce for some another, another team. If he goes somewhere up in the game, somewhere else, right?
Speaker 2:Right. So but I'm not, yeah, I'm not just I like you could, because you can win with a, like you said, being that 15, 15 and for defense, right.
Speaker 1:If you have a good quarter.
Speaker 2:If you got a good quarterback you gotta get your support system around the quarterback. But if you're somewhere you can't be 30th, can't be the last of the week.
Speaker 2:But if you're in that middle ground, if you can just like, hey look, we just got to stop this, will this them one time? This is this is your one time. You got to stop the quarterback and a 15th Brent length defense to do that. They're not stopping you every time, but but yeah, it's. I like, yeah, I would rather spread that money out and then spend my money on my offense, my offense of line, my quarterback, my receivers, because you need now you're like you said you would punt on a receiver and In the day, because it was like if I couldn't get one of the top three, well, I'll just. I'll make it up down with some of the line somewhere somewhere else now.
Speaker 2:Now You'd like oh my god, you've got all these guys that. You've got divine day, you've got Chase. It's like right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm sorry to come off the board. You're sweating bullets now right you guys started to drop off the board and now you're being left with other guys. Now you're sweating it out a bit.
Speaker 2:Right, right. And then then it's like okay, and stuff on this, even stuff on takes they, they're, they're number two, Changer man.
Speaker 1:It's like a changer bro.
Speaker 2:And they've said they've got two good receivers. Look at the Seahawks, see, I have two. And then they drafted well and it's like unbelievable.
Speaker 1:You talk about the, the strength and strength and strength. Who was gonna get the ball there? Like you had one ball to go around, you got three legit guys and Tyler locket, metcalfe and in jigba there who can change your life. That's interesting and and it is interesting that they went there. I mean, at least he's there for the future. I'm not, I'm not sure. It felt like that part of the cupboard was, was not bare. Yeah, I'm not sure why. Why do you have another receiver? But at the end of the day, it's a great one and we'll see how he pans out.
Speaker 1:And I think, if I'm to sum up all this and and what the, the the episode is about, does money correlate to winnie Super Bowls?
Speaker 1:I don't know that it correlates to winning Super Bowls, but I do know that it correlates to winning in general. Yes, if you have a low payroll, you're probably not winning, at least of the last ten, ten seasons. The stats bear out that if you're, if you have one of the lowest payrolls, you're not winning in in this league. You got to have Lightning in the bottle with the Patrick Mahomes situation at the Chiefs, did you got to have something like that happen for you, but literally that's happened one time the last ten seasons, right, and if you're winning, if you're, if your payroll is, as ever, at the top of the list, you may not go to Super Bowl but you'll be able to get butts in the seats, you're gonna feel something, a good product on the field. You're gonna be at least maybe around in the postseason who knows when you get bounced, but you'll be around.
Speaker 1:So I do feel like the having a higher payroll correlates to winning seasons but doesn't necessarily correlate to a super bowl, even though you could say that not having one of the lowest payrolls, I mean all of the Super Bowl teams, I mean I guess it's about half and half Eugene, because when you look at the Super Bowl teams that we had here one, two, three, one, two, three, four, five, six of those 60% of our list that we had, eugene had payrolls that were Under 15th, were 15th in the lower 15th and lower.
Speaker 1:They weren't top 15 payrolls, so I mean, there's something to that. I guess you don't have to break the bank, but maybe you got to be around it and then Maybe have some good fortune from from the the injury gods and have some great players there on your team. This is just a statue, john, to Eugene Warren. Thank you for checking us out here and watching the show. Wherever you may be watching, you're listening to show wherever you may be listening it. See you next time. All right, my friend, all right. All right. The most important thing is All right. The most important thing is