Schefter on a Rams return for Donald, "More likely than not" + the Indiana Bears?
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Jun 9, 2026
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Tue, June 9, 2026
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Episode Transcript
0:00The Stanley Cup Final on ABC is more than a quest for the cup.
0:05It's 134 years of putting it all on the line and the heaviest 35 pounds ever lifted.
0:10It's broken curses and broken hearts, but for those chasing it, it's everything.
0:14The only question is, who will take it? You just have to watch the Stanley Cup Final presented by GEICO on ABC and the ESPN app.
0:23Welcome back to the Adam Schefter Podcast as we have entered the month of June, probably one of the quietest times on
0:30the NFL calendar, and it should be a time where most of us are catching our breath, well-rested, and yet this morning,
0:37as we record this podcast, it looks like my friend, my colleague, the host of the Pat McAfee Show, Ty Schmidt, looks completely wiped out and exhausted.
0:46He was in New York for Game 3 of the Knicks Spurs.
0:50I want to hear, Ty, what time you got home and why you look so damn tired this morning.
0:56Yeah, so we landed in Indy at about 4.15, 4.30 maybe, and it takes me about 12 to 15 minutes to get to my house from the airport.
1:05By the time I got home, my baby was due to eat in like 15 minutes, so I just stayed up, fed
1:13her, and so I slept, you know, like maybe an hour and 15, an hour and a half on the plane, but
1:20I kind of just, I rolled it right into today.
1:23So, yeah, I'm feeling the effects a little bit, but I'll get slap happy here shortly, and I'll be good, and then I'll just inevitably crash later tonight.
1:32And what was your New York City, Madison Square Garden helicopter from Bristol to New York City experience like?
1:38I mean, incredible. You know, for not having a dog in the fight and, you know, just wanted to, like, the energy
1:46inside there, the game itself was unbelievable. Yeah, I'm not a huge helicopter guy, but, you know, anytime you can take a
1:53helicopter out of the city at night and see everything, you know, it's unbelievable.
1:57Then, granted, you know, you have another 30 minutes to get back to Bristol.
2:02Oh, so you helicoptered from Bristol to New York City and then from New York City back to Bristol and then flew from Connecticut back to Indy?
2:11Correct. Why don't you just fly out of New York City?
2:14Because the president was there, so the airspace was shut down.
2:18So we had to, you know, it was, I mean, he ended up staying for the entire game, which I think a
2:25lot of people thought he was maybe going to leave at halftime or in the third quarter or something.
2:31So it was crazy getting out of there. And then, yeah, the airspace was shut down.
2:37So we waited at the helipad for probably, you know, it probably took 30 minutes to get there with just the traffic and all that kind of stuff.
2:46And then we probably had to wait another 30 or so before they cleared the skies and let us go.
2:52So if President Trump hadn't gone to game three, you would have flown out of the New York City area after the game without going back to Bristol?
3:02Yes, I would assume because we've kind of we've done something similar before where we take a helicopter from New York to
3:09Teterboro and then fly out of Teterboro back to Indy.
3:12But obviously that wasn't that wasn't in play last night.
3:15So but, you know, again, just about anyone on the face of the earth would have killed to be able to do
3:23what I got to do last night. So I don't want this to come off like I'm complaining because I'm not.
3:29It was it was an unbelievable night. It really was.
3:33What's the single greatest takeaway of the evening? The thing you remember most about helicoptering from Bristol to New York, going to
3:40game three, working game three, helicoptering back and getting back at four plus in the morning.
3:45Um, I think, you know, because we've done the college football all casts where you're on the sidelines and that's unbelievable.
3:52That's crazy. But the NBA finals at Madison Square Garden, arguably the most, you know, famous arena in the world.
3:59When you get down, we had courtside access for, you know, pregame and everything so we could get down there.
4:05And I think that's what you maybe gets lost on you is at those college football games.
4:11The field obviously is, you know, what, 10, 15 times the size.
4:15So the amount of people that they allow on the sidelines like before the game, there are so many.
4:21It is much different at an NBA finals game.
4:24It's very selective who is down there. And then just on top of that, you know, I mean, like you're watching Mitchell
4:31Robinson and Wemby warm up and it's like the, you know, they look big on TV and then you're standing there and it's like, Jesus Christ.
4:39I mean, these guys aren't human. It's it's crazy.
4:42So last night, more than anything, it really it really did feel like a man.
4:47What the hell am I doing here? How am I standing on the court before game three of the NBA finals at Madison Square Garden?
4:55It was it was pretty insane. Now you went to the finals.
4:59I would take it in the last year in Indianapolis, correct?
5:03Yes. How would you compare that environment to the environment you experienced on Tuesday night, Monday night?
5:09I mean, pretty. It was raucous in Indy. And I want to say I only went to one game and the Pacers did win.
5:16So but I think just everything, you know, and I was.
5:20Connor and I were talking about this and, you know, Pat and D button, we not like very curious because everyone kind
5:27of said, you know, like the energy in there is going to be insane.
5:32It's going to be so loud. But then you see the ticket prices and it's like, well, I mean, like how crazy could it be?
5:40You know, how many diehard fans who are willing to just go nuts are going to be paying.
5:46Twelve thousand, you know, fourteen thousand dollars for a ticket.
5:49But it was. I mean, when when the garden's pumping like that and when like the you know, I think there was
5:56a point in the second quarter where the the Knicks were down seven and it felt like it was about to get away from them.
6:05And then they went on like a nine oh run and retook the lead.
6:09It felt like the it felt like the roof was going to explode off that place.
6:14It was it was so loud. And granted, you know, we had the head.
6:19We had the headsets on, so it kind of muffles it and you don't.
6:23But every once in a while we'd go to break or something like that and you'd pop it off and be like,
6:31wow, it I mean, it is deafening in here.
6:34So it was it was it was crazy. But that's so much bigger than Banker's Life is or whatever they call it now.
6:41But, you know, it's it's such a bigger arena that filling that entire space with noise is a little bit different than, you know, filling the Pacers arena.
6:50And was it a one time old cast NBA finals deal or will there be other old cast here for other NBA final games?
6:58That I don't know, but I think by all accounts, it went pretty well.
7:03We had a great time doing it and it felt like the flow was pretty good.
7:08So we'll see what happens. Obviously, if given the opportunity to do that again, I think it's probably a no brainer that you would do that again.
7:17Pretty cool. And you had been to Bristol before, correct?
7:20No, that was my first time. Whoa, whoa. Yeah.
7:23Yep. How long do you get to be there for and what do you think of that?
7:29So we got there on. What was it? It would have been.
7:33God, what day of the week is it? Tuesday?
7:35Tuesday. Today's Tuesday morning. OK, OK. OK, so we got there.
7:39We landed in Bristol or Hartford, you know, Sunday night.
7:42Oh, and then we went to the campus and kind of checked out our studio for a little bit.
7:49And and then, you know, went back to the hotel, slept, got got to the campus.
7:54Again, we ate in the cafeteria, you know, did all that kind of stuff and then got back to campus next day.
8:01Around nine did our show. And then because of what they were saying with how long it was going to take to get into MSG.
8:09We left, you know, we left immediately after our show ended.
8:13So all in all in all, I was there for probably.
8:16Five hours, maybe a total of five hours. But, you know, I felt like I got a pretty good lay of the land.
8:24It was you know, it was it was cool.
8:27It was cool for it being my first time there.
8:30Definitely. And anything stand out to you about seeing ESPN?
8:33A lot of people. I remember my first drive up there.
8:37First time I was ever going to go to campus.
8:40I always remember that morning, that Sunday morning driving up there.
8:44I'm just curious. There's anything that stood out to you about your first visit to the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut.
8:51Kind of like the the Lambo feel to it where you're driving through neighborhoods.
8:55And it's just like, yeah, this is kind of weird.
8:59And then, boom, all of a sudden you just you know, you see the ESPN campus and all these buildings.
9:05And it's like, wow, this massive, you know, media conglomerate.
9:08It really is just kind of nestled in in between all of these neighborhoods.
9:13And then outside of that, you know, I think once you do what we do a little bit more, you kind of get more of an idea.
9:22But the sizes of those studios still blows me away because it really it shows up maybe a little bit on TV
9:29when people do like walk and talks and go to.
9:32But you really don't know until you get in there.
9:36And it's like, wow, this this studio space is absolutely massive.
9:39And we were in one that isn't isn't even one of, you know, like they were like, oh, you think this is big?
9:47Wait till you see, you know, our NFL studio.
9:50So I think that type of stuff is you could never account for that unless you're actually boots on the ground there.
9:57Well, hopefully you'll get some rest tonight, Ty, as we get ready for the rest of the NBA.
10:03Well, Golden Knights and they've been going to, you know, to two OTs.
10:07So I have a feeling it might be another late one.
10:11We'll see. Oh, and you're watching all the hockey, right?
10:14Mm hmm. Yeah. OK, well, good luck with that.
10:17Yeah. What are you going to do? Well, I that was, you know, a nice little thank you for letting me do
10:24that, because I feel like I haven't even got a chance to breathe and kind of walk through what actually happened in the last 24 to 48 hours.
10:33But that's not why people are here. I don't think they really care.
10:37Let's get into this week's six pack. Well, I appreciate that.
10:41Thank you, Chef. I appreciate that. Nearly half of hiring managers say a candidate's enthusiasm and genuine interest in the role can
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12:22Call 1-800-GRAINGER, clickgrainger.com, or just stop by. Let's get into this week's six-pack.
12:26Topic number one. This has been talked about a lot.
12:29We saw the Instagram stories. We chatted about it on the last podcast.
12:34In your opinion, how realistic is it for Aaron Donald to return to the Rams?
12:38Here's what I go back to. When I got a call in late March from an NFL executive, and he said that
12:46Miles Garrett is going to be traded because he just redid his contract, and they set it up for him to be traded.
12:53And I'm like, really? And then another team called and said the same thing.
12:58And I called the Browns, and they were adamant that he's not being traded.
13:02No, that's not why we redid his contract. No, that's not why we pushed back the option bonus payment to the week
13:10before the season, as opposed to the 15th day of the league year in late March.
13:15They were adamant that that wasn't why they were trading him.
13:18And I think when you talk to all the people involved, nobody is coming out right now and saying Aaron Donald is coming back.
13:26But everybody is acknowledging that it is a possibility.
13:29And the fact that it is even a possibility in June tells me that I think there's every possibility it will become more real in July.
13:38And I think if and when they present a plan to him as to how he would be used, I think it's
13:45more likely than not that he'll be back. Now, nobody said that.
13:49Nobody said that. Everybody thinks. We'll see. It's possible.
13:52We're talking about it. He has to commit to it.
13:55It still sounds like we're a ways away. He has not gotten there yet.
14:00But the fact that this is even coming up and the fact that the Rams have the team that they do and
14:07the fact that Aaron Donald will get to play with Miles Garrett and the fact that the Super and it's been quiet
14:14around him, like he could have a huge impact.
14:17I just think the ingredients are there to make it happen.
14:21They're there to make it happen. And we'll see whether or not it actually does.
14:25But the fact that there's so much talk and the fact that people are thinking about it tells me that in the
14:33end, if I had to guess, I would guess it does happen.
14:37And that's just a guess. No information. Like I've spoken to people on the Rams.
14:41What do we think? Like it's possible. Possible. Tough to come up with the money.
14:46Not easy to make happen. When you speak to other teams, they're like, they'll find the money.
14:52They'll make it happen. And we'll see. Well, and I mean, the biggest thing I think is Aaron Donald basically said like, hey, I'm considering it.
15:00It's tough not to consider it because I think it's a non-starter if he says like, no, I'm retired.
15:07I'm done. Then obviously this is all just fun conjecture.
15:10But if he's the one coming out saying like, yeah, no, it'd be foolish not to at least, you know, maybe consider it.
15:17Then it's like, okay, this could be a thing.
15:20Now, in your opinion, would this potentially be like, could you see them signing him in like November for kind of the
15:28stretch run into the most important football? Or you think if they're going to do this, he's going to be around the entire season?
15:35I don't think he's a foot half in kind of guy.
15:39I don't think he joins him in the middle.
15:42Sure, not a Johnny-come-lately guy. Yeah, I think, I don't know whether he's there for the first day of training camp.
15:49That might be my guess. Whether he shows up.
15:52I would guess if he's going to do it, he's going to be all in.
15:57Like, he's going to be all in. And that doesn't mean that he's going to be practicing every day.
16:03I think they come up with a real smart practice schedule for him.
16:07And even game schedule for him where maybe he's playing a reduced role, but a meaningful, effective role.
16:13And so, I think all these things are possible.
16:16And I just think it's him. I think, I do think that Aaron Donald returning to the Rams is very much in play.
16:24Okay. So that, I mean, that changes everything. Because I think everyone kind of assumed, but hearing you say that, that makes
16:31me think like, okay, that kind of turns it up another notch.
16:35It's like, wow, we actually might be getting this.
16:38So, boy, I mean, that's something that we'll monitor, obviously, for the next few months.
16:43Who knows what's going to happen? But for it not being just dead in the water right away, that, you know, hey.
16:50It is not dead in the water. It is not dead.
16:53That doesn't mean it will happen. But it is not dead in the water.
16:58But, you know, and the fact that it's not dead in the water, man, I bet teams, fan bases are just like, oh, please, God, no.
17:06Please, God, no. But that's the whole point. If they're even acknowledging that it's a possibility, like, isn't it going to become
17:14more likely as training camp's getting ready? Like, that's how it feels like it's tracking to me.
17:19We'll see. Yeah, without a doubt. If he didn't shoot it down right away, they have time to work on him and present different plans and options.
17:28So, yeah. Yeah. Boy. All right. So, we'll keep an eye on that.
17:32You mentioned the guy who he'd be playing with.
17:35Let's move on to topic number two, Shefty. Still trying to kind of sort through the fact that Miles Garrett is going to be a Ram.
17:44I think it happens and everyone goes crazy. And then because we're not getting, you know, we're not seeing him in Rams gear.
17:51We're not seeing him in practice or anything like that, at least not day to day.
17:56You kind of forget about it for a second.
17:59Can you give us another reason why the Rams traded for him and kind of more reaction from around the league now
18:07that the dust has settled a little more? I spoke to a few people in that division and to say they were shuddering would be a fair description.
18:16Like, how could the Rams get Miles Garrett? Like, how does that happen?
18:20One person I spoke to said that they think that Miles Garrett is not just the best.
18:26Well, they said he's the best non-quarterback in football.
18:29If you were picking one guy, one guy to start your team with and it wasn't a quarterback, Miles Garrett would be the pick.
18:36I had somebody very intelligent tell me that. I also think back, it almost, the league is amazing.
18:42The NFL is just incredible. They scheduled the Rams for seven primetime games this year.
18:47Seven primetime games. Is there a team that we're going to want to see more in primetime than the Los Angeles Rams this year?
18:55And so, shortly after the Miles Garrett trade, the Rams reached out to Mike North, the NFL's, one of the NFL's scheduling
19:02czars, and they said, you can thank us for making your job that much more rewarding and gratifying for us justifying the fate that you showed in us.
19:11Because they've done that. But here's the thing that I think gets lost by a lot of people.
19:17If we go back to week 16 last year, the Thursday night game.
19:22In that particular game, Zach Charbonnet recovers the, what looked like a failed two-point conversion in the end zone that was ruled
19:29as a backwards pass by the officials when everybody except Zach Charbonnet stopped playing.
19:33And he just happened to pick up the football in the end zone almost by accident, not like he charged at the football.
19:41And when they reviewed the play, it turned out that the play counted.
19:45That it was a backwards lateral. It was a two-point conversion.
19:49And that two-point conversion, you can make the argument, won the game for the Rams.
19:54Not only did the two-point conversion win the game for the Rams, but it won them the division.
20:00And it won them home field advantage. And it meant that they played the Rams in Seattle in the NFC Championship game,
20:07not in L.A., which you can make the argument again.
20:10Help them win the championship to get to the Super Bowl that they ultimately won.
20:15Is there anything in there that I said, Ty, that you would disagree with?
20:19No. So the Zach Charbonnet play really looms as arguably the single most significant and important play of last season because it
20:27swung the division home field advantage and likely the Super Bowl champion by that one play.
20:32And in talking to the people in L.A., the one thing that became apparent to me was if that play hadn't gone
20:39Seattle's way, I don't know if the Rams might have been quite as aggressive in trading for the Chiefs cornerback Trent McDuffie,
20:46who they made the highest paid cornerback in football.
20:49And I don't know if they would have been as aggressive in trading for Miles Garrett.
20:54Now, maybe they would have been, but I did have somebody say to me, Zach Charbonnet, that play fueled us.
21:01That play made us get really aggressive. And that play changed the way that we approach the offseason.
21:07So if we look at how important that play was to the results of the 2025 season, we also can say that
21:14that play had an enormous impact on the 2026 offseason.
21:17I mean, I think that there's got to be some truth to that because you could see if the Rams gone and
21:25win the Super Bowl last year, then they maybe rest on their laurels a little bit more this offseason.
21:31Maybe not quite as aggressive. We want it. Let's maintain this.
21:34Right. Exactly. Exactly. Zach Charbonnet play. And now, you know, as opposed to just, hey, we have this maybe what one year
21:42window where Stafford is still going to play. The Super Bowl is in L.A.
21:46You trade for a guy like Miles Garrett and get, you know, the defensive face of the league for potentially the next, what, five to seven years.
21:55It is funny how stuff like that can happen and how it can, you know, change kind of the trajectory of teams and what they decide to do.
22:04Because I think you're, I think you're right. I mean, I think it's tough to, it's tough to think that if the
22:11Rams win the Super Bowl, they, who knows, they might not, they might not trade for McDuffie.
22:17They might not trade for Garrett. They might just stand pat with who they have and be okay with that and try to run it back.
22:25They might have to give more raises to more players who won the Super Bowl as any Super Bowl champion does.
22:32They have to pay their own players, take care of their own.
22:36And that might've been the case there. But I'm just telling you like what came back, like that Zach Charbonnet play fueled us.
22:44And it's an amazing play for the impact it had in season and then after the season.
22:49Yeah, that's, that's wild. And now, now, you know, now it kind of comes the, it's not like the chiefs and the
22:57dynasty, but we're in kind of that like super team mold where boy, like they, now that they got to go win
23:04it, you know, I mean, they, they have assembled what feels like the Avengers almost.
23:09And now, you know, all like, like you mentioned, seven primetime games opening the season up in Australia.
23:15The pressure is, is certainly on them to kind of go and prove like, Hey, you know, we are the best team in the NFL.
23:23We're not just the best team in the NFL on paper.
23:26And how about this? Like who would have ever have thought again, maybe we said this last week, but it's worth repeating
23:34again, who would have ever thought that the Rams opening game would be in Australia with miles Garrett, a defensive end, like
23:41miles Garrett's going to be playing his first game with the Rams in Melbourne, Australia, just like everybody predicted, right?
23:47Yeah. No kidding. Just absolutely wild. But that's why the NFL is the best.
23:52All right, Chifty, let's move on to topic number three of this week.
23:56Six pack. Patrick Sertan got a $5 million raise.
23:59How do you read that whole situation? What does that mean?
24:03I think this is so smart of the Denver Broncos in a couple of ways.
24:08First of all, Sertan, I believe had a couple of years left in his contracts and they didn't have to do anything.
24:15And I think he was supposed to make $24 million and they jumped him up to $29 million.
24:21But this is what I think good, smart, forward thinking organizations do for this reason.
24:26First of all, he's played to $29 million a year.
24:29He's been that good of a player. He was the defensive player of the year two seasons ago, not last year when
24:36Miles Garrett set the sack record and won it, but the year before.
24:40So he's already played at a high level. But beyond that, I think the Broncos are smart enough to look into the
24:47future and they know who was in the Super Bowl this past year.
24:52Seattle and New England. Who were two of the best players in that particular game?
24:57Devin Witherspoon in Seattle, Christian Gonzalez in New England.
25:00And I believe that by the time the season begins, both players will have new contracts.
25:05And if and when they do have new contracts, those contracts, I'm going to guess once again, are going to make them
25:12the highest paid cornerbacks in the game, which would put them in the range of about $32, $33 million a year.
25:19Now, if Patrick Sertan is at $24 million and he's seen these other cornerbacks get $32, $33, he can say, hey, where is mine?
25:27What about me? And who knows? Maybe you get a holdout.
25:30Maybe you get a disgruntled player. Maybe you get an unwelcome situation.
25:34But Denver wisely, before any of these extensions can get done, says Patrick, we're going to give you $5 million for nothing.
25:41Give you a $5 million raise. Here it is.
25:44Now he's boosted up to $29 million a year.
25:47Now, when those extensions get done at some point this summer, the discrepancy won't be quite as large.
25:53He can't complain. They just took care of him.
25:56And everybody's happy. Broncos have a happy cornerback. Broncos are happy.
26:00They don't have an issue. And he gets money for nothing, essentially.
26:04Money for playing at the high level that he's played at ahead of these other guys getting paid.
26:10Yeah, no, that's just good business because you're right.
26:13I mean, you would assume that whenever this does come up, he would have reset the cornerback market.
26:18He probably would have been getting paid. I mean, who knows where that comes in because he has won a defensive player of the year.
26:27And he is still very young and one of the best.
26:30You know, he's a top three, top five cornerback in the league.
26:34So, yeah. I mean, if you can get ahead of this.
26:38And like you said, you know, I mean, what player isn't going to be happy with, you know, just, hey, we're going
26:45to give you an extra $5 million this year.
26:48Now, granted, does that mean that they're not going to have to restructure and maybe do something again later when, you know,
26:55he starts to slide down a little bit and he's not paid like a top five cornerback?
27:01Sure, maybe. But if they're willing to do this now, then it just kind of signals that they know what they're doing.
27:08They know how important he is to their defense.
27:11And they did right by him. So, who's to say they're not going to do right by him again whenever that does come up?
27:19So, yeah. You got to like what the Broncos are doing if you are a Broncos fan.
27:24And he is phenomenal. He is just phenomenal. Yeah, he's a great player.
27:28You forget, I think, if you don't have a true shutdown cornerback on your team, you forget what it looks like.
27:35Like if you watch a game on Sunday and, you know, you got one of these, like a true number one receiver
27:43and he's lined up against Sertan, it's just like, oh, boy, here we go.
27:47You know, like this guy's probably not going for 150 today.
27:51Like it feels like he's apt to do every week.
27:54So I love this move. I love Sertan and, you know, good for him and good for the Broncos.
28:00Let's move on to another kind of contract discrepancy, I guess, with topic number four.
28:05What's going on with Baker Mayfield's contract? We've heard the two sides where people are reporting that his agents and he asked for 60 million.
28:13He came back and said that's absolutely not true.
28:16We never even, you know, countered to the offer that the Bucs gave him.
28:21Where do we stand on all that? And what do you think is ultimately going to happen there?
28:27It's a really interesting question. And Baker spelled it out last week when he said either we have a contract extension done
28:34by the time training camp begins in July or we're not going to be talking about it again.
28:40And he enters the last year of his contract and there'll be a whole lot of speculation swirling around his future.
28:47Now, the Buccaneers always could use their franchise tag on him.
28:50And I would think that they would do that.
28:53That would be a no brainer. But why do you want to have somebody who plays with the attitude that Baker does?
29:00Why do you want to have that guy pissed off at all?
29:04Right? Like you want that guy to be happy.
29:07It's the key to your team. So here's the deal.
29:11Right now, as we record this Tuesday morning, Dak Prescott is the highest paid quarterback at $60 million.
29:16Now, we're waiting for Lamar Jackson to get done at some point, maybe this summer.
29:21Maybe at some point Mahomes gets done. So I don't know if this will hold.
29:26But right now, Dak's at $60 million. Josh Allen's at $55 million.
29:30Joe Burrow's at $55 million. Trevor Lawrence is at $55 million.
29:34Jordan Love is at $55 million. Tua is at $55 million.
29:37Jared Goff is at $53 million. Brock Purdy's at $53 million.
29:41Justin Herbert, $52 million. Matthew Stafford, $52 million. Now, does Baker Mayfield deserve more taking Tua out of this than any of those guys?
29:49As much as those guys? Your quarterback in your city, Daniel Jones, was signed to a two-year $88 million extension worth up
29:56to $100 million coming up for torn Achilles. So to me, that's probably the floor here.
30:01He's in the $44 million to $50 million range.
30:04We heard Justin Herbert, Matthew Stafford in the $52 million range.
30:08It shouldn't be hard. We have a lot of quarterbacks at $55 million.
30:12Prices go up. I mean, it's not hard to figure out what the numbers should be right here on Baker Mayfield.
30:19Now, again, we're talking also about a great upcoming 2027 draft class, which is going to be noted.
30:25Would the Buccaneers go draft a quarterback in the spring?
30:28But even if you do that, then can you imagine drafting a quarterback in round one where they pick and having that guy and Baker?
30:36That would be challenging. So it's a situation. The logical, simple, reasonable outcome is just getting a new deal with Baker done
30:43right before training camp to the tune of $50-plus million.
30:47He would be happy. They would be happy. And get it done.
30:51Shouldn't be that hard to figure out. We just spelled it out.
30:55We've given you a range in which they probably should be.
30:58Maybe we're a little high. Maybe we're a little low.
31:01But we're not terribly far off. You put these two sides in a room.
31:06You get them together. You get that deal done.
31:09And you make sure your quarterback is happy before training camp begins.
31:13Yeah, I couldn't agree more. Because I think a lot of people are bullish on the Bucs this year.
31:19And if you do give him the Daniel Jones offer or something like that, and he says no, and then goes out and plays this year.
31:28And let's say the Bucs go to the Super Bowl or they make a deep playoff run.
31:33And then that gap in between where you think he should be and where he and his representatives think he should be just gets wider and wider.
31:42And then that's where you get the issues. So, like you said, I mean, that's the going rate.
31:48He's a – look at – you know, before he got dinged up last year, we were talking about the Bucs being
31:55one of the best teams in the NFC. So, it's one of those things where it does seem like a no-brainer.
32:02It's kind of the changing of the era, you know, changing in the guard too.
32:07Mike Evans isn't there anymore. Like, you need Baker to kind of solidify that younger team and be the guy that everyone can rely on.
32:15So, yeah, who says no to, you know, five years, 300 million or whatever the case may be.
32:21And he's making 50 per and then you throw in some incentives in there and that kind of stuff.
32:27It does seem like a no-brainer, but who knows?
32:30I mean, it's – and it's hard because a lot of people are thinking, well, Jesus Christ, you know, what's the difference between 44 million and 50 million?
32:39You know, that's so much money just takes. But, again, you want what you believe you're worth and what your market value is.
32:47And Baker is a – you know, he's a top half of the league quarterback in the NFL.
32:53So, I guess I see it both ways. But in your opinion, do you think something is going to get done or
33:00do you think that they are very far off?
33:03Baker says they're far off. But I think that it's easy to talk tough now in the first week of June and
33:10you have until late July to figure it out.
33:13Why would both sides not be coming back to sit down at the table to get something done?
33:19Again, I don't buy into tough contract talk in early June.
33:22It doesn't mean a lot to me other than it's now put on all of our radars and all of our antennas
33:30to track here in the coming weeks. If we're having the same conversation in early August once camp has begun or even
33:37at the start of the regular season, then it becomes something we're really digging into.
33:42But right now, I just think it serves as an alarm going off.
33:46Hey, here's something that everybody needs to get done.
33:49And let's see if they can figure it out by the time training camp begins.
33:54Okay. Yeah. And I'm in the same boat as you.
33:57I think there's a good chance this does get done.
34:00It seems like the relationship there is not strained at all either.
34:04And, you know, they understand how important Baker is.
34:07And I think he probably, you know, appreciates the fact that they were the ones that, you know, gave him another opportunity.
34:14So I expect this to get done as well.
34:17Let's move on to topic number five, Schefter, of this week's six pack.
34:22Another guy who's, I don't want to say future is in the balance because that's not the right way to put it.
34:29But he hasn't got a new deal yet. What is CJ Stroud's future look like in Houston?
34:34You know, this was interesting. I was on your show with Pat a couple of weeks ago and somehow CJ Stroud's future came up.
34:42And I said something to the effect of it wouldn't surprise me if by the start of the regular season, the Texans
34:49and CJ Stroud were able to figure out a new deal.
34:53And all of a sudden I'm getting calls from people in Houston that it's all over sports talk radio, that the idea
35:00of a new deal was even brought up for CJ Stroud because it sounded like the people who cover that team, the
35:07people in that area were not thinking like that, which again, I don't know.
35:12The whole thing surprised me. I got a call from somebody with the Texans.
35:17They're like, boy, you started something. I'm like, what are you talking about?
35:21They're like, it was not on people's radar that there could be a new deal.
35:26I said, like, it just makes sense that the two sides would come together before the start of the season and get a deal done.
35:34We laid out the numbers on all these quarterbacks, right?
35:37CJ Stroud got to the playoffs last year. Yeah, they had the tough outing in New England that everybody remembers.
35:44And I think that's why people were thinking that, hey, maybe the Texans will take a wait and see approach.
35:50They get Will Anderson done with a massive new extension.
35:54He is of the same draft class as CJ Stroud.
35:57But I still think that CJ Stroud is a leader on your team.
36:01He was a great young quarterback, is a great young quarterback, has been inconsistent at times.
36:06But you're going to keep the leaders on your team with potential, especially at the quarterback position.
36:12So I'll say it again, like, I won't be surprised if by the start of the season, the two sides figure it
36:19out and work out a deal to get a new deal done for CJ Stroud.
36:24That's what forward thinking organizations do. They get out in front of these things and they get them done.
36:30And that's what I would expect the Texans to do in this particular case.
36:35Now let's see if they can figure out that just because I expect it doesn't mean they'll do it.
36:41But that's just me looking at the situation objectively and thinking, I think they're going to get something worked out here.
36:48Yeah, no, I mean, I couldn't agree more. Yeah, sure.
36:51He's, you know, inconsistent at times, but he they found their franchise guy.
36:55He's led him to the playoffs multiple times. Like what he's been inconsistent a little bit and kind of had a clunker
37:03against the team that went to the Super Bowl.
37:06So you're not going to resign him and you're going to do the whole their defense is too good, first of all.
37:13So they're not going to be drafting where they were when they first drafted CJ Stroud.
37:18You know, so you're not if you're thinking, hey, this is an unbelievable, you know, quarterback draft class.
37:24Maybe we can get one of these guys. I don't think that's the case.
37:29You know, I mean, if you look at their odds to win the Super Bowl, the sports books certainly don't think that's the case.
37:36So, yeah, I mean, it's weird that people in Houston were so taken aback by that because we're kind of in that
37:44internal clock where it's like, hey, we're going to need to get this guy done and extend him.
37:49That shocks me that people couldn't believe that that was coming.
37:53Didn't one of your co-workers pick the Texans to go to the Super Bowl?
37:58Was that Tone? Yeah, Diggs did. Yep. He did, right?
38:01Yeah, I think he picked him to win the Super Bowl.
38:05Win the Super Bowl? Yeah. Yeah. So, by the way, I'm not telling you he's right or wrong.
38:10Who knows? That's his prediction. Let's say he's right.
38:13Let's say the Texans go to the Super Bowl.
38:16And let's say the Texans got a deal done with C.J.
38:20Stroud this summer. Isn't that exactly what you want to have happen where he's joining your guy rather than having him go
38:27win the Super Bowl and having to go pay for your quarterback the way the Ravens once had to pay for Joe Flacco?
38:35Top, top, top dollar? Exactly. I would imagine that the belief in that building with their defense is, hey, if he cleans
38:42up some of the inconsistencies, we've seen the stretches of his play where he is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
38:49So, I think in that building, they feel like they can win a Super Bowl.
38:54So, it would be weird to kind of employ a wait-and-see approach.
38:58Again, that just doesn't make sense to me, but that's why I'm not making decisions.
39:03But we've had Nick Casario on the show many times, and you talk about forward thinking, just smart GMs.
39:09Like, that's him. You know, he's not a moron.
39:12He knows what he's doing. So, I would agree with your sentiment there.
39:16I think that there's a very good chance you would expect this to get done because then you could just put everything
39:24behind you and, hey, let's get over that next hump and let's make a deep run in the playoffs, which I think they all believe they can do.
39:33Agreed. Okay. Yeah. So, we'll see what happens there as well.
39:36All right, Shepty, let's move on to the sixth and final topic of this week's six-pack.
39:42Look, crazy, you know, and as someone who grew up in the Midwest, not a Bears fan, but very close to Chicago,
39:49went to Chicago all the time, been to Soldier Field all the time.
39:53I'm having a tough time wrapping my head around the fact that there is a good chance the Bears' new stadium will be in Hammond, Indiana.
40:02It just seems weird saying it. What is the Bears' future?
40:05Well, it's amazing because we saw last week that the Bears' board of directors voted on Thursday night to advance the stadium
40:12development in Hammond, Indiana with the exact site still to be selected.
40:16And it's the first time that their board has voted on any stadium site, pushed forward a recommendation, and their recommendation is
40:24to move to Hammond, Indiana, which would mean that the state of Indiana would have two NFL franchises and the state of Illinois would have none.
40:32Utah there in Indiana would have the Colts and the Bears and the Illinois would have no Chicago Bears, which is hard to imagine, right?
40:40So, Wisconsin, Indiana would have more franchises than Illinois with the city of Chicago.
40:45Like, all of it is odd. So, I reached out to one guy after the vote, after the board of directors voted and words started getting out.
40:54And his exact words to me, and I read them to you from his text, his exact words, because I'm like, is this real?
41:02Are they moving to Indiana? He said, yeah, it is.
41:05It's not a bluff. His words. There is more work to do, but barring anything very strange, it's a done deal.
41:12That's what he said. And then he wrote, his words again, Illinois effed it up.
41:17The politics are unbelievable in that state. Totally dysfunctional.
41:20Now, I don't know politics in Illinois. No idea.
41:22But somebody that's there sent that to me. And obviously, if you're getting to the point down the road where we're talking
41:30about the Indiana Bears, the Hammond, Indiana Bears, something's gone awry.
41:33Because it's just hard to imagine. And I know the Bears can say, okay, we're nearby.
41:38And all the people in and around can follow.
41:41And they can. And they can. But I think people in New York, like the New York Jets, the team I grew
41:49up rooting for as a kid, trained on Long Island, played at Shea Stadium.
41:53They moved to New Jersey. And it was never quite the same again.
41:57They're not around. They're in another state. They still have a loyal, passionate fan base.
42:02But it's not exactly the same. It's just not.
42:05And there's no way that anybody could tell me that the Bears do go ahead and move to Indiana, which it sounds
42:13like they are on track to do, that it's going to be exactly the same.
42:17The Chicago Bears in one of the great American cities playing in Hammond, Indiana.
42:22I don't know the money involved. I don't know the business side of it.
42:27But it must be some unbelievable deal. Unbelievable deal.
42:30To get the Bears to leave one of the great American cities to go to Hammond, Indiana.
42:35Wasn't Hammond, Indiana? Wasn't that where the guy from 48 Hours, Reggie, Reggie, whatever his name is, Eddie Murphy's character, wasn't he from Hammond, Indiana?
42:43Was he? I don't know. I haven't seen 48 Hours in quite some time.
42:48That is a great pull and a great movie.
42:51But, yeah, it might be. We've looked at some of, like, the tax breaks that are included.
42:56And, yeah, I mean, it's crazy. It really is.
42:59And I guess in this day and age where all these different franchises are, you know, buying up the, you know, you
43:07got the Patriots and the Packers and, you know, Jerry World and the Cowboys.
43:11Like, when you own everything around the stadium, obviously the people who own the team are just making money hand over fist.
43:18And that's probably pretty attractive. But, like you said, it just sucks that it came down to that because you could tell
43:25as it was kind of going, it's like, oh, yeah, the politics of this is what's going to make it impossible.
43:32It's not. And I don't know. Maybe, you know, being from Long Island and being from that area with the Jets, maybe it's different.
43:40But because we're the Mets playing at Shea Stadium, too, when the Jets were there.
43:45Yeah. It was all it was all the New York teams that the Jets were there.
43:50So, like, I understand that a little bit more because as the NFL is getting bigger, it's like, hey, we need to have our own stadium.
43:59I don't know if we want to be sharing it.
44:02Like, but Soldier Field is the is the Bears stadium.
44:05Yeah. You know, there are concerts there and stuff like that, but they're not sharing it with the Cubs.
44:12They're not sharing it with the White Sox. Like, that was theirs.
44:16It's right on the water. And, yeah, it was old and decrepit and needed to massive, you know, facelift.
44:22But it just feels like everything was in place.
44:25And to your point, like, I don't know. And maybe it's because I'm not from New York and I'm not from that area and I'm from the Midwest.
44:34It just feels much different with the Bears going to Hammond, Indiana than it does the Jets go or the Giants going
44:41from New York City to New Jersey. Yeah, I don't know why it feels different.
44:46It just to me, it does. And maybe it's because I didn't live through it when it happened with, you know, the Jets.
44:54But how about this? I think we can agree it is a significant move, whether it is massive nearby to another state,
45:01whatever it is, New York to New Jersey, Illinois to Indiana.
45:04And by the way, the character, his name, Eddie Murphy's character was named Reggie Hammond.
45:09Okay, I thought so. I was going to say.
45:12I screwed it up. But okay, there we go.
45:15That's the great part. You just look it up online, get the answers right away from a movie that is a movie from my childhood in 1982.
45:24Yeah, I was 16 years, 15 years old when that came out.
45:28Shefty, you mentioned it. Did, like, at the time when it happened with the Jets, were there fans who were just like, you know what, I'm done?
45:37Like, I'm not doing it. Because I can see that happening with, you know, people who live in the city.
45:43It's like, you know what? I'm not driving an hour and a half in traffic to Hammond, Indiana on Sundays to watch the Bears.
45:51I'm just not doing it anymore. I mean, it just feels like a huge slap in the face to those people.
45:58Yeah, there are. There will be. There are. There will be certain people that feel betrayed by their favorite team.
46:05They will feel like they abandoned them. Now, not everybody.
46:08People, there will be people that love that team enough.
46:11Again, I don't know. Again, those politics must really be messed up to make something like this happen, that the Chicago Bears could be playing in Hammond, Indiana.
46:20And I guess part of that, too, is maybe it's, you know, hey, we're going to make a dome stadium here and
46:27we're going to get a Super Bowl. And we were never going to get a Super Bowl at Soldier Field.
46:34So let's just kind of rip the Band-Aid off now and do that.
46:38Like, I could see that as well. Maybe so.
46:41Maybe so. So it just, the whole thing seems, it just seems so extreme and so surprising.
46:47And we'll see how it winds up. But it certainly sounds like from the text I got, it sounds like they are
46:54destined to wind up in Hammond, Indiana. It doesn't sound like it's a leverage play.
46:59And the pressure now is on the city of Chicago to see if there's some Hail Mary that it can throw to get it strained out.
47:07All right. Well, we started off talking about the Knicks.
47:11And we'll end up again talking about the Knicks and the great NBA finals that it's been.
47:16And we'll see whether or not the Knicks can rebound here, Ty.
47:20And find a way to get back on the winning track after a 13-game win streak with snaps.
47:26Should be a great series on ESPN, ABC. You got hockey.
47:30You got basketball. And we've got enough football to keep us busy until we start to get to training camps in July.
47:37Mandatory minicamps are going to be underway here. You're going to get some people.
47:41I don't know. Someone will get hurt. Abdul-Kardal limped off the field at the Giants' mandatory minicamp on Monday.
47:48There'll be other things that happen because that's what always happens in the NFL.
47:52And we'll be back in this spot here in a couple of weeks to document the latest comings and goings in the NFL.
48:00Here's something to watch for now that the Rams have traded for Miles Garrett.
48:04Can they entice Aaron Donald to return to the sidelines?
48:08Something to watch for is brought to you by ZipRecruiter.
48:11Try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash Adam. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter.
48:15All right. Great job by you, Ty, on an hour and 15, an hour and 20 minute sleep.
48:21To power through this podcast today. Game ball to Ty Schmidt for getting this done.
48:26Great job by our great producer, Dan Stanzik, Ben Smith, and all the people who tuned in to another Adam Schefter podcast.
48:33Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe to the Adam Schefter podcast.
48:37We'll be back in this spot a couple of weeks from now.
48:41Towards late June to look at some of the happenings in the drama show that is the National Football League.
48:47Until then, everybody, have a great Father's Day. Stay safe.
48:51Be well and stay safe. Be well and stay safe.