Mike Florio

Well, they distract us with that.

That's right.

Well, while AI secretly plots our demise, they distract us with fireworks.

There was a time, too, where if you would do the quote marks, it would like make balloons fall.

But I don't know.

That doesn't work anymore.

You know, it's funny.

Once upon a time, they actually tried to make it seem like a good thing, like it's a reward.

You're a franchise player.

You're so good and you're so valued that we're going to use this thing that prevents you from becoming a free agent and making what you deserve.

And I think over time we've realized that

This isn't good.

It's never good.

It's a way for the teams to keep the guy around at a number that the team is happy to pay because it's less than and it's less of a commitment than it would be if they had to compete with whoever out there is willing to try to sign the player on the open market.

This year, look, last year there was only two.

This year it remains to be seen what's gonna happen.

The big name is George Pickens.

He had a career year in his only season with Dallas, traded by the Steelers last May to the Cowboys.

1400 plus receiving yards, second team All-Pro, Pro Bowler.

And the Cowboys clearly want him, but they don't want to pay him market value.