- yesterday
The Philadelphia Eagles are just about a week away from training camp, and there's an unresolved issue going on around the league. Many 2nd round picks, including Andrew Mukuba, have still not signed their rookie contracts. Will he end up holding out of training camp next week? This could have a huge impact on the safeties room. In other news, Jalen Hurts gets disrespected by another national list and former Eagle CJ Gardner-Johnson apologizes for some recent comments he made about the team. Lastly, a division rival has frustrations boiling with one of their best players. Today, RB discusses all of this and more!
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00:00The Philadelphia Eagles are one week away from training camp and they may be entering an unprecedented sticky situation with one of their rookies. We'll talk more about that. Also, Jalen Hurts gets disrespected yet again to no surprise. A former Eagle apologizes for some recent comments that he made and one star within the division is very unhappy with his team and all we can do is sit back and laugh.
00:26We'll break it all down, but welcome in to A to Z Philly. I'm RB and the topic of convo today is our boy Andrew McCuba number 24 second round pick out of Texas. But before we dive into him, we have to talk about it. I know I know every month or so it seems Jalen Hurts gets disrespected, but the latest list comes out from ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and literally it's all everyone's been talking about for the last three, four or five days.
00:55I don't want to go on and on about it because at this point I expected. Here's what I have to say about the Jalen Hurts disrespect. Okay. He was put number nine in quarterback rankings on this list as we head into the 2025 season. I just think it's absolutely ridiculous. I think a lot of these guys just stat crunch number crunch. They don't actually watch games. They don't pay attention to the seasons, the ins and outs, the ups, the downs, and anybody that thinks that Jalen Hurts,
01:25did not put in any work last season and that he was like carried to a win to a victory to a Super Bowl is absolutely delusional. They don't know what they're talking about and they don't actually watch the sport. Name me a quarterback in NFL history that has won a Super Bowl without having any good players around him.
01:45I'll wait. You know why? Because it's not possible. It doesn't happen. And as much as everybody wanted to scrutinize Jalen Hurts last season, all he did was get better, adapt to his role, and do what the team needed for him and the team to win.
02:00That's it. Simple as that. So the only players on this list that maybe should be considered above Jalen Hurts, in my opinion, are Pat Mahomes, Josh Allen, potentially Joe Burrow based on everything he's gone through in Cincy, and you could make an argument for Lamar Jackson.
02:18That's it. But I'd still put Jalen Hurts in the top five, probably above some of those guys. And really, it just comes down to, you know, talent and just sheer will and experience and how many playoff games they've made, things like that.
02:32But Jalen Hurts is a Super Bowl champion, and he is literally hanging out with Michael Jordan in Greece right now. He does not care what you have to think.
02:41The other thing I wanted to say about this is shout out to Nick Sirianni for riding for his guy. He was asked if Jalen Hurts got carried during the Super Bowl run. He said, I think that's BS. He plays the most important position in all of sports. It's the most ultimate team game there is.
02:57What I admire about him is the selflessness of doing anything we need to do to win. That's exactly right. And the other thing is what I just referenced. He says, one of the reasons I love football so much, it takes everybody to accomplish your goals. You can go ahead and start naming great quarterbacks. I'll tell you they're great receivers and they're great defenses. Brady with Gronkowski or his defenses early on Mahomes and Kelsey, Steve Young and Jerry Rice, et cetera, et cetera.
03:23Speaking of another former Super Bowl champion, CJ Gardner Johnson, he came out recently, had some wild comments. There was some reports that came out about him. I don't even want to dive into that. But simply put, CJ Gardner Johnson said things like, the Eagles aren't going to win again without me, and they're not going to be good enough, and kind of just sounding butthurt that he was let go by the Eagles.
03:47Now, again, I didn't like letting him go. He had one year left on his deal. Honestly, the reason I think it happened is because Howie Roseman sees the type of personality he is, right? You look at CJ Gardner Johnson, you look at how his career has gone, excellent player, but sometimes you almost just have to keep him in a box, in a bubble, like keep him contained because he just goes out, says whatever he wants. He has a streaming platform.
04:10So sometimes he goes a little bit over the edge. And although he's really good on the field, in the locker room, there could be some concerns. Now, again, I would have kept him. I still think there's some question marks at the safety position, which we'll talk about.
04:24But when it all comes down to it, CJ Gardner Johnson came out, and he apologized today on the Pivot podcast, and essentially went out and said, you know, I shouldn't have said those things. I'm still going to show up to the ring celebration. And if people ask me about it, I'm going to say sorry, that was not my place. And that shows a lot of maturity. That is the right thing to do. There was no reason to say those things.
04:47But I think Howie Roseman anticipated that CJ was going to ask for a contract extension midseason and mess up the flow of the team. Honestly, that's why I think they traded him early. Obviously, they're gonna have to pay a lot of people next year, but he still had a year left on the deal. So I don't know why they would have traded him other than they think his personality or the way he handles himself could be a problem. Now, speaking of the CJ replacement, we have an interesting situation brewing here with Andrew Makuba.
05:16This article was put out on Yahoo Sports by Ryan O'Leary. And essentially where we sit a week from training camp is Andrew Makuba has not signed his rookie contract yet. With CJ Gardner Johnson, now a member of the Texans, Philly has a starting safety spot open for competition.
05:34Makuba will be battling with Sidney Brown and Tristan McCollum for the right to start alongside Reed Blankenship to open the 2025 season. And keep in mind, Reed Blankenship, I'm sure that contract extension is going to be looming in his mind throughout the season as well.
05:50But when it all comes down to it, the growing concern for Makuba and the Eagles, if training camp had started today, he would not be on the practice field. He is one of 30 second round draft selections who have yet to sign their rookie contracts.
06:05And the holdup is over guaranteed money, which has blossomed into this situation recently because the Texans gave number 34 overall pick Jaden Higgins the first fully guaranteed rookie contract.
06:18And then the Browns followed up by giving linebacker Carson Schwestinger, the first pick of this year's second round, a fully guaranteed deal as well.
06:26And the ripple effect could soon be felt across the NFL as teams get set to open training camp.
06:32This explains it a little more. And we see a guy from the Chargers second round rookie Trey Harris, who is essentially holding out at this point.
06:41It says he could be the first in an unprecedented number after he did not report on Saturday the deadline for rookies.
06:48And Ian Rappaport says here that Trey Harris is officially a holdout 30 of the 32 second round picks unsigned because of a disagreement over guaranteed money.
06:59Because, again, now the bar has been set, right? You have a couple of teams that gave that fully guaranteed contract to their second round guys.
07:06Well, the rest of the playing field is going, whoa, whoa, whoa. I want my money, too.
07:11I want all four years guaranteed. So now, you know, it's a different precedent.
07:15And it says here, Makuba's contract will be four years with a max total value of 7.16 mil over the duration of the deal.
07:23Philly has over 30 million in cap space for 2025.
07:27Guaranteeing 7 million over four years is an easy solution for Howie Roseman and company.
07:32But NFL owners do not want to see fully guaranteed contracts become the norm in their sport.
07:38They want to guard their version of the salary cap, which works to keep players salaries in check while also protecting teams from the risk of financial losses due to player injuries or on top of that players sitting out.
07:50Right. And guys like, I don't know, Antonio Brown and those kinds of guys have ruined it over the years for other players.
07:57You know, when you just sign a contract and then you say, I'm not reporting or I'm quitting mid game, then the owners start to get a little more protective of their money.
08:05So this is kind of the situation we're in right now.
08:10And the business is the business.
08:12The question is, if these guys don't end up signing contracts, well, is every team not going to have their second round pick or how is it going to get resolved?
08:20You know, so there has to be some kind of resolution here in the next week or so.
08:25Otherwise, McCuba will not be on the field.
08:27And it says, what if McCuba has not signed his contract?
08:30Well, they bring up a reference with Cooper to Jean who missed last year's preseason with an injury.
08:36And obviously, we know the effect he had when he came back.
08:39But, you know, he was behind in his reps, missing the training camp preseason.
08:43The first five weeks of the year, it significantly impacted him.
08:47If he was already that good when he came back, imagine how much better he could have been if he was there at the beginning of the year.
08:53And what makes it even more severe for the Eagles is that they got rid of C.J. Gardner Johnson.
08:58Sidney Brown is a question mark.
09:00We don't know what he's going to bring to the table.
09:02Same thing with Trisha McCollum.
09:04So they kind of need McCuba.
09:06That's why they invested in him high in this draft.
09:08They need a safety, a rookie that's going to step on the field and be able to get the job done.
09:14We don't know if McCuba is going to be that guy.
09:16But he is going to need every single rep.
09:18He's going to need to get in rhythm and work with these coaches and his teammates to determine in the preseason if he's going to be that guy.
09:26So it's going to get interesting here over the next week.
09:29We'll see if he holds out or not.
09:31I hope he is on the field and I hope they find a way to make this happen.
09:35Otherwise, it could get pretty ugly.
09:38Lastly, speaking of ugly, Terry McLaurin and the commander's situation is very ugly.
09:44Because Terry McLaurin says he hasn't heard from them in over a month on his contract extension.
09:50Keep in mind, we are talking about the guy that has been there through thick and thin, continues to put up good numbers every year, and was a big part of that team's jump this last season.
10:00Their success, that connection with Jaden Daniels.
10:02He says, without any progressive discussions, I don't see how I can step on the field.
10:08He also says, I've been pretty frustrated, not going to lie.
10:12Everything that has transpired to this point has been pretty frustrating and disappointing.
10:16So we might see a holdout with Terry McLaurin.
10:19There's still other stars across the league who have not reached a resolution with their teams.
10:23At the end of the day, again, it all comes back to business.
10:27I understand these guys want to be on the field, but they also have to take care of their families and their futures.
10:32And sometimes you get the teams that are trying to shortchange their players.
10:36You just have to find that happy medium.
10:38I still don't think they should be playing hardball with one of their best receivers, but that's where we're at.
10:43That's how things happen.
10:45And if the commanders somehow lose Terry McLaurin or he doesn't start the season with the team, it's going to be pretty comical watching the commanders who have, for some reason, been talking a lot of work on Jalen Hurts.
10:56And about the Eagles and about how they got lucky and all this, it's going to be interesting to see how the Philadelphia Eagles continue to dominate.
11:04Because right now, I think the commanders are the only shot to take the Eagles off the throne this year.
11:10And without McLaurin, I mean, that team takes a significant dip.
11:14So we'll see what happens.
11:15Give me your thoughts down below.
11:17Who do you side with more in these types of situations?
11:19The players, the ownership.
11:21What do you think?
11:21Give me your thoughts down below.
11:23Appreciate everybody for tapping in.
11:25Be sure to like, comment, and subscribe.
11:27And as always, I will catch you on the next one.