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00:00We start DRS with a monumental contract for a monumental star in the NFL in the face of the
00:06franchise in Pittsburgh. A contract extension is done and it makes T.J. Watt the highest paid
00:13non-quarterback in NFL history. A three-year, $123 million deal that is 41 mil per season of
00:21annual average value. T.J. Watt, no longer Jamar Chase, no longer Miles Garrett who held the
00:28distinction earlier in the offseason. T.J. Watt, now the highest paid non-QB ever in the National
00:34Football League. You know he's giving a standing ovation right now. Not Mike Tomlinson, hey welcome
00:38back in the building. We're gonna have our guy at the start of training camp. It's Darius Slay,
00:42it's Jalen Ramsey, and it's Joey Porter Jr. going like oh my goodness. Now I only have to cover for
00:47one and a half seconds here because that defensive line slash outside linebacking core is going to
00:53absolutely wreak havoc. Highsmith, Harmon, Hayward, and Watt, when they are healthy, you don't need
00:59to blitz anybody. It covers up and it masks so many mistakes in the secondary. Hey, blow my coverage.
01:04Doesn't matter. Quarterback is on his back. For a guy that had one year, 22 and a half sacks,
01:10right in the middle of his prime, and you're figuring you're probably making one of those
01:14last runs with Mike Tomlin because if it doesn't work out this year with Aaron Rodgers,
01:18it's not because T.J. Watt didn't get to the quarterback. It's just because the team wasn't good
01:22enough on offense, which includes Aaron Rodgers. This had to happen. Everybody knew it should
01:26happen. We knew what the pay scale was going to be, and nobody's looking at this deal going like,
01:30man, they paid him a lot of money. No, you know what you're saying is good for Pittsburgh. T.J.
01:34Watt's back in camp. Let's get after it now. The only thing you could argue, DRS, from the financial
01:40impact of Watt signing this contract, he's 30. He turns 31 in October and yet still handsomely rewarded.
01:48It is just a three-year deal. He is deserving of it to become the highest paid non-quarterback in
01:55NFL history. By the way, a distinction that Watt has earned now at two different junctures in his
02:01NFL career. The RS, there was a contract dispute, right? T.J. Watt was not there in Pittsburgh for
02:07voluntary OTAs. He was not there for mandatory minicamp, but it did not feel and does not feel
02:13like the bad blood, perhaps, between the Bengals and Trey Hendrickson. We knew this deal would get
02:18done. The Steelers report to training camp on Wednesday in Latrobe. Watt, not Aaron Rodgers,
02:25not anybody else, has been the face of the franchise in Pittsburgh since Big Ben called it a career.
02:31All eight years with the Steelers after being a first-round pick back in 2017. He has been a
02:37pro bowler at bare minimum each of the last seven. He has been a five-time all-pro performer,
02:43including last year. He was the 2021 Defensive Player of the Year award winner. He has led the
02:48NFL in sacks three of the last five years. Last year at the RS, he did not lead the NFL in sacks,
02:54still led the National Football League in creating havoc as he led the NFL in forced fumbles. You
03:00mentioned earlier the guaranteed money, $108 million. Probably that was intended. Conveniently,
03:07it is the career amount of sacks that Watt has compiled, 108, the 73 and a half that he has
03:15over the span of the last five years. That leads the National Football League as well.
03:20But you know what I like the best of this is they understand that OTAs are one thing,
03:25and certainly for a defensive end. OTAs are like a quarterback holding that. I was like,
03:28come on, man. We need our leader in here. We got to get the offense set. We got to install
03:31our programs here before we get into the summer months. But do you remember the last time I
03:35believe it was TJ Watt holding out, sort of battled with some soft tissue injuries when he
03:39got back in the fold? He's going to be able to go through all of training camps. When you know
03:42it's game number one, he's just not turning it on saying, hey, let's just let loose and see what
03:46happens. That's what I like about this. We'll talk about some other guys that may be missing out
03:50on camp or being unhappy about that. But now you know TJ gets that even because you can work out
03:55all you want, Ben, on your own. It's not the same as being with the boys, sweating it up in camp
04:00and getting your grind and building up what they say the calluses, right? That's what needed to
04:04happen. So now you look at Pittsburgh heading into training camp. There's no excuses. There's
04:08no distractions. And that's a big win.
04:10No doubt. Eight and a half still the win total for the Steelers. The under still has the juice.
04:16It remains a plus 140 price for Pittsburgh to make the playoffs. But because of TJ Watt,
04:22Pittsburgh has been a top 10 scoring defense each of the last three years. In the previous two,
04:26the Steelers have made it to the postseason. More NFL news and contract news next.
04:32A big day of contract news. First in the NFL with training camp right around the corner. Then we'll
04:38get to the association and Damian Lillard's return to the Portland Trailblazers. DRS TJ Watt becoming
04:45the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history. Three-year deal worth $123 million, 41 mil per year.
04:52Based on that annual average value, he moves past Miles Garrett, moves past Jamar Chase to earn the
04:58distinction once again for the second time in his illustrious NFL career as the highest paid
05:03non-QB. Which makes Micah Parsons' comments, again, fascinating on the Undertaker's six feet under
05:12podcast, even more alarming. What we know Jerry Jones likes to do is wait to the very last second
05:19for the drama? Sure. For the financial flexibility and foresight? Absolutely not. Because DRS,
05:27when people set the market, like Pittsburgh did yesterday, and you fail to pay Micah Parsons,
05:32who is entering the fifth year of his time in the NFL, and the final year of his rookie deal,
05:39you now have to match the market, not set it. So when Micah Parsons says, we obviously wanted to
05:45get a deal done early, and then blames ownership for dragging their feet, he's right.
05:51He's absolutely right at this point. And also, credit Micah Parsons for being the good soldier.
05:58Like, we don't usually see this, like, hey, this deal's going to get done. I'm showing up to OTAs.
06:03I'm not bad-mouthing anybody. Like, we'll be around. I'll get my money. It's fine. And then seeing some
06:08of the best sack artists in the game re-up getting paid more money than the next guy, and you're saying
06:13to yourself, like, I want to be a cowboy. I've always told you guys I want to be a cowboy. Like,
06:17I love it here. And all I do is wreck other teams' game plan on a day-to-day basis. If you look out
06:23outside the quarterback, what might be the most important position in professional sports,
06:27should I say just in the NFL, it's a sack artist on the outside that can mask so many mistakes that
06:33you have. And last time I checked, Dallas doesn't have a fantastic linebacker or secondary here that
06:38can afford Micah Parsons not playing or not being on the football field. But also this.
06:43Yeah.
06:43It is business sense. Like, we attack Ben so many times, like the Cincinnati Bengals. Like,
06:47why would you wait so long knowing that you're going to have to pay these guys? And every day
06:52you wait, the price of the brick just goes higher. And Dallas makes it like an art form. Let's not
06:57pay Dak for five years. Oh, my God. We made him the highest paid player in the history of the sport.
07:01Let's not pay Micah Parsons when he's due his contract. Oh, my God. We just made him the highest
07:05paid defensive player of all time. There are ways to avoid this. And so many times we just say to
07:09ourselves, Ben, the minute you have a franchise guy, the second that clock hits midnight, you can
07:14resign him. Just make him the highest paid player in the sport. Because a month later, that bargain
07:20deal that you just signed, you said, you know what? I can't believe we spent this amount of money. It
07:24is an actual bargain deal. But for Micah Parsons, again, credit him for not flying off the handle
07:29going, I will not return to the Cowboys or put that helmet on until I'm 20% higher paid now than TJ
07:35Watt as the tax for you dancing me around for a year and a half.
07:41Credit to Micah Parsons, DRS, to your exact point. And there was no conversation about being a holdout
07:46from training camp starting at Oxnard next week or anything like that. One of the reasons,
07:52though, we commend the New York Jets and new GM Darren Mugi for paying Sauce Gardner and Garrett
07:57Wilson after their third year when they are still under team control in their discounted rookie scale
08:03for the next two seasons and then you balance out the contract extension is because you can tell
08:09those players we are making history and you are not lying. Sauce Gardner is the highest paid corner
08:14in the National Football League. The RS and Jerry Jones done the same thing with Micah Parsons last
08:20offseason. He could have made Micah Parsons the highest paid non-quarterback ever and the highest paid
08:26edge rusher in the history of the NFL for a little bit more than $35 million. Now there are four
08:33edge rushers in the NFL that make more than $35.5 million. All four of them, DRS, TJ Watt,
08:42Miles Garrett, Max Crosby, Daniil Hunter, signed their contract extension this offseason. If Jerry
08:49Jones did this last year when he had the opportunity to, they could have made Micah the highest paid
08:55edge rusher ever. He would have been thrilled. Dallas would have been thrilled. Jerry Jones would
09:00have got his moment in the sun to say, see, I'm pretty good. And it would have been a discount
09:05in less than 12 months, but that's not what they do. And now they're going to have to foot the bill
09:10because of it. And the negotiations aren't very hard. You might say, oh, it's complex. Like we'll
09:15get back to that TJ Watt story in just a moment. Like, oh, it's been in the work for months. Has it
09:20really? Like, here's what the last top edge pass rusher got. I want a little bit more. Done deal.
09:25Like that's the negotiation. Like it's harder to probably negotiate than like a, like the 15th
09:30best defensive pass rusher in the NFL. It's like, ooh, should he get a little bit more,
09:34a little bit less? Like, oh, when you're in that top five, you just get the top money. It's just the
09:38way it goes. And by the way, coming back from the break, I need that picture back up from TJ Watt.
09:42It's looking pretty stylish. I'm going to point it out, by the way. How about that?
09:47Hey, oh, all right. A little bit more NFL ahead contract news up next on TEL.
09:52All right, Mr. Fashion Police. I did not expect to break down TJ Watt's look after becoming the
10:00richest non-quarterback in the history of the NFL. Certainly a lot of money to go out there and
10:05spend on whatever that attire or fashion needs to be. IRS, what did you notice here that you want
10:10to explain to our viewers? Yeah, take it a look. Like, like I'm reading through. I'm like, yeah,
10:15guys makes a lot of money. I'm like, okay. And I like, I do like a double take. It's like,
10:18oh, they messing with me behind the scene. They put my picture up because like,
10:22I have a return monitor, but you can't look at the return monitor, man, right? While you're
10:26trying to pay attention to the show and have some fun. So I just like glance at it. Look, man,
10:30this, this guy's got a great haircut. Does he go to canvas salon, like over by me here in South
10:35Jersey? I'm like, where is he getting this haircut? Because like, I got an appointment today about
10:39three o'clock looking good, but I got $108 million fully guaranteed haircut as well as TJ Watt.
10:47So the people out there like, ah, DRS doesn't do much with his hair. I mean,
10:50listen to the superstars out there in these streets. TJ Watt, your boy DRS,
10:54nice haircuts, successful. I played football. He plays football. It all goes together, man.
11:00It's great. Helmet haircut. It really is. Can we get that side by side once again? Yeah. I mean,
11:05really, it's almost like the Spider-Man meme. Beautiful. Like that's, somebody call it the
11:10Caesar. I'm not saying I would. I think it looks good. Maybe you should do that. You ever think
11:16about growing out the facial hair? Look, by the way, I can't stand it. Like I've had goatees in
11:20my life. I can't go more than like 30 hours without shaving because I would itch my neck off
11:28the minute I had any stubble like there. And I remember, you know, here's a good part about
11:32this. Like back in the day, I used to work in a different business, obviously, but when the Eagles
11:35would go on a playoff run, a couple of the guys would like, Hey, let's grow our beards out.
11:40Like it was the NHL. The Eagles are going a long playoff run. I'd be struggling. No,
11:44even before that, I'm talking like early 2000s when the Eagles weren't used to getting to
11:48conference championship games and losing. Oh, the itch was incredible. I don't know how
11:53people have like the neck beard slash beard. Can't do it, man. Just can't do that.
11:58Listen, you can have all the money in the world. Guys that have earned a lot of money.
12:01TJ Watt, Kirk Cousins. If you've been watching the Netflix documentary quarterback series,
12:06Kirk is a champion of great clips. So not necessarily, I'm not saying TJ Watts hairstyle
12:12or haircut is bad, by the way, my co-host, I think you look very nice. I'm just saying sometimes
12:17they don't embellish in what their hairstyle can be. So Micah Parsons waiting for his payday.
12:24By the way, Micah just turned 26. TJ Watt is 30. Even more reason to pay Micah Parsons as early
12:31as possible. Some wide receiver news quickly to RS yesterday around the NFL.
12:36Mike Williams, who is returning to LA. He was the seventh overall pick by the Chargers
12:40back in 2017. Spent the first seven years of his NFL career with Los Angeles. Last year,
12:47a mixed match season between first the New York Jets, then the Pittsburgh Steelers,
12:52or vice versa, whatever way that it was. Back in LA, but had not been working out this offseason
12:58with the Chargers due to an undisclosed injury. The Bolts, who sent their veterans to camp
13:03on Saturday afternoon, this previous Saturday, had him, Mike Williams, listed on the pup list,
13:09the physically unable to perform. Then yesterday, Mike Williams at the age of 30,
13:15but often dealing with injuries, the RS announces his retirement from football.
13:21Yeah, it's not good for the Chargers. Now, what were the expectations? Oh, no, we just lost,
13:25you know, Justin Jefferson. No, you didn't. But what you were hoping for is you can get that veteran
13:29presence and do what he does. Get open deep, make those tough catches that are contested,
13:34and can sort of help out McConkie and help out some of the younger speed that you have in that
13:38lineup. It's the one thing we talked about when we were going, like, division by division,
13:41Ben, team by team. The worry is not the offensive line. I love that. The worry is not the quarterback.
13:46Love Justin Herbert. The worry is not the running back position or even the slot wide receiver.
13:50It's the competence on the outside. When I said, you know what? The LA teams,
13:55the Rams and the Chargers. Boy, if I could have switched one player from one franchise to the
13:59other, it was going ahead and getting, you know, Devontae Adams on the outside for the Chargers.
14:05And my goodness, you would have a rocket ship of an offense. I'm not saying they can't move the
14:09football. I'm not saying they can't win that division or even make the playoffs and win a
14:13playoff game or two. But I just needed more of that. All right, comfort on the outside. I know it's
14:18handled. Now we're back to, hey, Quentin Johnston, hey, catch the ball with your hands,
14:23not your forehead, you know? Come on.
14:26DRS, we talked a lot yesterday about second round picks, starting to sign their deals in
14:30a flurry of it. The second rounders, really for the first time in NFL history this year,
14:34asking for guaranteed money. Some of them getting fully guaranteed money. Trey Harris,
14:40not necessarily fully guaranteed in LA, but the second round wide receiver out of Ole Miss
14:45did sign his deal yesterday. He has been working out at camp. He is now on the practice field even
14:50more. He will be expected to take that leap. Did we think Mike Williams at 30 entering year nine,
14:56even if healthy this year, was really going to be the biggest needle mover for that LA offense?
15:02No. Is it unfortunate, however, that he is retiring because of his health at only 30 years old?
15:08Absolutely. More wide receiver news DRS in the AFC West. The young star for Kansas City,
15:13Rasheed Rice, who was injured last year after only four games, involved in a multi-car car crash
15:19last year in the Dallas area. Yesterday, a Dallas County judge offering up his sentence,
15:2630 days of jail time that can be served over a five-year probation period. So the actual legal
15:32ruling in the courtroom has now been settled in terms of that DRS, the NFL's league office,
15:39and its disciplinary arm. They get to work in serving up whatever the suspension
15:43is going to be for violations of the NFL's personal conduct policy. ESPN's Adam Schefter
15:49reporting yesterday, more than likely, multi-game suspension. When that punishment is handed down,
15:55that's the next question.
15:57Oh, yeah. That punishment is going to get handed down quickly because usually what's the NFL do?
16:00It takes that cop out. Sometimes we'll let the legal course run through and it takes two years,
16:04and then the guy's out of the league or they bang him with a suspension. This guy just got dropped
16:08with a 30-day jail sentence and five years of probation. So the NFL probably should act quickly.
16:13And also, you are a partner in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs. They want to know sooner than
16:17later. Ben, they don't want to be in week seven where she writes having a great season. Oh, by the
16:20way, he's done for eight games. And you're like, oh, or in December, he's done for the playoffs.
16:24Like, you want to know sooner than later, which is not a good thing for Kansas City on the field
16:28because there is a suspension coming. But let me ask you this question. Like, I just heard the
16:32explanation was like a 30-day jail sentence to be served possibly over five years, which means like do a
16:36couple weekends in the offseason. What would you rather do? Like, would you rather do the 30 days
16:41all at once or like a weekend here or there? I actually would rather do the 30 days to get it out
16:45of the way as opposed to, well, I'm going to do a weekend, which is two days, and that's 15 like
16:50separate weekends. Like, just get it done. But also, they work with you a lot of times, right?
16:55Hey, 30-day suspended jail sentence. The minute the season is over, you can serve it up in February,
17:00January, or, you know, February, March, or April to get that out of the way. I doubt it's like,
17:04hey, by the way, that jail sentence is starting at Thanksgiving and goes 30 days and then a
17:09suspension on top of that. It's tough for Kansas City to adjust to, but I would assume they would
17:14pick up the phone and say, can we get this ruling sooner than later? And they'll probably acquiesce
17:18that and give it to them. The Chiefs go to training camp next week. You would assume DRS by the start
17:24of it in KC or for KC. They will know what that is.
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