Mike Florio takes a look around the league after the NFL Draft

0:00Mike Floreia, pro football talk.com, NBC Sports, footer.com slash pro football talk. NFL Insider, Mike Floreia, with Mollie Nghaw on 104.3. The score. Mollie and Haw 104.3, the score we love our opportunity to talk to Mike Floreo. He joins us now on the plumber's 911 hotline plumbing emergency called 183 plum 911 local 130 plumbers get the job done right the first time Michael good morning. How are you going great? How are you doing good and it's great to talk to you. Very curious what is your takeaway from the latest breaking news that Sean McVeigh may have looked unhappy but was not

1:05unhappy with the Thai Simpson draft pick the two of them apparently had met for hours before the Rams went through with that one and he had already informed his quarterback as to what they were planning on doing. See here's the message I would have for Thai Simpson when you have pulled it off and successfully concealed the extent to which the Rams were interested in you before they drafted you it's probably not the best idea to admit it after the fact but I put myself in Thai Simpson shoes he's the guy that's been caught in the middle of this ongoing question of why Sean McVeigh was so clearly upset on Thursday night hands crammed into the pockets of his pants that's usually a giveaway when someone's sitting down and they crammed their hands into the pockets of their pants they're upset and he sold it with his facial expressions

2:05his quick grin his terse-truckulent responses to the questions and he wanted to make it clear to Matthew Stafford that this isn't what it seems to be this isn't the Falcons drafting Michael Pentax Jr after they'd signed Kirk Cousins this isn't the Packers drafting Jordan Love while they still had an Aaron Rogers who would go on to win the next two league MVP awards but if they're that concerned about Matthew Stafford's reaction to the point where Sean McVeigh would essentially do a de facto audition for a Hollywood film in how he behaved on Thursday night it makes you wonder why they're so concerned and it makes you wonder why and how he's going to react there's still negotiating a contract with him there's no indication that they're going to get a deal done anytime soon they've had some tough negotiations in the past that we don't really know about because Stafford is very discreet and low-key but

3:07how's he going to react that finally dawned on me this morning we were talking this through on pft live if they're that concerned about how he's going to react and now it's obvious how concerned they were and it's obvious that they really did their homework and McVeigh was all in with this after meeting with the guy for hours and hours I think we all did some popcorn we sit back and we wait and see how Stafford's going to react then he doesn't wear it on his sleeve he lets his actions do the talking and I'm not here to say the Matthew Stafford could react by saying hey guys I've made $400 million I don't need this if you want to replace me go ahead and replace me I don't need to keep playing I'm not saying that's how he's going to react but it's at least on the radar screen if though that concerned about how he's going to react and it's a reasonable concern you have to I think start looking at the ways he may react it's fun drama it certainly is irresistible intrigue and I think it all obscures the fact that objectively it was a terrible pick you had a team that

4:11is one player way at that spot from improving an offense that has Super Bowl aspirations that are realistic and you picked a guy who maybe two years away from seeing the field it doesn't make any sense from a football perspective you can defend it but I think it's a flimsy argument as Chris Simms is set on PFT live and he's known Kyle Shanahan for decades they played together at Texas both the 49ers and the Seahawks were scared to death about what the Rams were going to do with this bonus pick that they stumbled into last year when the Falcons traded back into round one to get James Pierce Jr. 13th overall pick for arguably the second best team in the NFL arguably the team that would have won the Super Bowl but for that screwy two point conversion from the Thursday night game in December that helped Seahawks get the number one seed and home field advantage for the third game between the two teams that's how close the Rams are you had a great opportunity with that 13th pick to get a

5:12premier player they had Aaron Donald with the 14th pick in 2014 they were in range to get somebody who could make a difference right now and as it stands the guy that he drafted if everything goes according to plan he's only going to play this year if the Rams are blowing someone out I'm curious Mike I saw you went over the ratings the TV ratings for the draft and they were down slightly they still seem like they're really good ratings and certainly the show that was put on in Pittsburgh man they got a lot of people out there how how much did they dip and what does that represent well last year the ratings were 13.6 million that was the total audience on all the various platforms that televised the draft including ABC three-letter broadcast network you put it all together and it was 13.6 last year this year it dropped to 13.2 now 13.2 million is more than two million below the full season average viewership on

6:16prime videos streaming only weekly offering so while 13.2 million in comparison to what any other sport can do is very impressive it doesn't match this relentless never-ending draft type that is constantly pushed on to fans and the reality is only the hardest of the hardcore fans are going to tune in with rap detention hanging on every development and every pick now those of us in the business typically are among those who are going to tune in and I enjoy it but I'm one of those hardcore fans I've given my life to covering the NFL the mainstream fans don't care they don't care as much as they care about an average random Thursday night game so there's a disconnect there between what they want us to think the draft is and what the draft really is and hey at some point the argument's going to be well the ratings would be higher if all the people who show up to attend the draft were actually watching it but I'll

7:19also tell you probably plenty of those 320,000 or whatever the real number is because they always find a way to pump it up plenty of those people probably had their phones open and their YouTube TV app up and ABC ESPN one of those networks on their phone and probably counted toward the number so it's a hollow argument if it's ever made but it's a weird disconnect between the pilgrimage to footballs Mecca the Harry Potter sorting hat every year and how many people are actually tuning in and watching the draft as it unfolds in round one I don't know Mike I disagree kind of because you're comparing it to a game with an outcome something that counts in the standings it's a score you keep score the draft is none of those things it's an event it's a party it's it's all about potential you're selling hope and people are buying it and the thirteen million dollar thirteen million viewers to me is impressive and reflective of the hype and I know whether it's two hundred thousand or three hundred thousand that was a sea of enthusiasm in Pittsburgh and they rolled

8:21out all of they pulled out all the stops I just feel like the draft the draft is as popular as as ever I'm not saying it's as it's less popular than ever although the the hype was fifteen point five million during the pandemic year when none of us had anything else to do my point is this and think about it this way average random game the closest one that I saw when I was looking at the ratings earlier there was a jets Patriots game in November right our fans from thirty two fan bases treating that as must see TV that got thirteen point four million average viewers by the time we knew the jets weren't any good the Patriots were one of the better teams in the NFL and they have a national following but you're not going to get all thirty two fan bases for the draft in theory in the way this is my point is there's a disconnect between the way they sell it and the way they regard it and the way it performs if it truly is this off-season oasis of plausible hope that should draw in the fans of every

9:25team especially the teams that have multiple picks to see who's our next going to be what are we going to do to make this year the year I just would think that number would be bigger that's what's surprising to me that number given the way that those of us who are in the ecosystem view the draft that number should be a lot bigger than thirteen point two million Mike inquiring minds want to know Mike Raeble know where to be found at the draft he's apparently and in Salt Lake City there were photos of him just him shopping presumably for a gift for his wife who he's going to be undergoing counseling with the New York Post had these photos and he's still wearing his wedding ring what do you know about what's going on with Mike Raeble well I don't think anybody knows what's going on it was weird from the get-go when it was released to ESPN very

10:25late at night Wednesday going into Thursday that he wouldn't be present for the third most important day of the entire offseason I either third day of the draft Elliott what the VP of player personnel later explained what it would mean to not have in there and a lot of what goes on as you get later into the draft a lot of phone calls being made to line up undrafted free agents that's prevalent throughout the league even though it's a violation of the rules and wolf talked about what a tremendous recruiter rabal is they didn't have that available and then ESPN had the report on Saturday that rabal was in constant contact with the Patriots and then they had to retract that he wasn't in contact with them at all and now we see these photos in Salt Lake City he's got a house out in Park City Utah but it just invites more questions invites more speculation invites more reporting this is the problem the way this thing has been handled by everyone involved from a PR standpoint from the moment that the initial wave of photos first emerged three weeks ago today it has been

11:27bungled from a PR perspective and what it does with each development it sparks greater curiosity which leads to more reporting which leads to more stories which leads to more discussion which unless and until we get a clear definitive answer in this thing can just fizzle out and die it's going to lead to more churning because the outlets that are pushing this understand there's value to it this has become a much bigger deal than it ever should have been and there's a lot of confusion among Patriots fans about what happens next the wave is explained by rabal last week I don't think missing Saturday of the draft is the end of maybe times he won't be available what is going to happen what else is going to come out where is this heading I really do feel like last Thursday the the photos from March of 2020 that the New York Post reported I felt like that was the tipping point that was when my phone started blowing up from people I know around the league who should have been getting ready for the first round of the draft with their reactions and thoughts I just feel like

12:29this thing is far from over and it's far from settling down because there's a strong incentive by the publications out there who are chasing this story to get more and with each thing they find there's another reason to keep looking for more so I feel like we're still in the middle at this story closer to the beginning than the end and I don't know where it's going to go from here the competition between those outlets will dictate it will continue the salacious details guarantee there will be interest the question won't be externally what that will feel like I think internally I'm curious what you think will happen with the Patriots what the obligation is for a head coach in these circumstances do you appeal to your players do you talk to your staff and in terms of his own credibility is it damaged internally even though externally you know your teams have long histories of insulating coaches players from the noise what does he do inside that building to maintain a

13:31level of respect and when he did his surprise press conference appearance last week when they had told reporters two players were going to be made available as part of the second day of the offseason program and then variable walked in gave a two and a half minute statement and talked to reporters on the side and didn't answer any questions about the reason that he gave the two and a half minute statement he said that he had talked to the team about it now you got a lot of guys in that room there hasn't been any firm reporting yet on how they reacted what was said what questions were asked how he spun it how he sold it what he admitted to if anything but he clearly created a significant distraction and once he stepped away from the third day of the draft even the outlets that seem to be fully committed to ignoring the story had no choice but to cover it at that point it really does make you wonder what's going on inside the building and how as rabble continues to deal with this thing how it will

14:34manifest itself in preparations that are necessary for the season and then once we get to the season how is that going to look week in and week out and when will this story data it's already clear that wherever rabble goes now he's going to have eyes and cameras on him he's dealing with what has to be an incredibly jarring adjustment to his overall existence being thrust into a level of notoriety they never before experienced or wanted and these things are all being worked out in real time one development at a time Mike the the bears are still figuring out what's gonna happen with their stadium plans they've been offered a stadium in Indiana and they are currently waiting on some legislation from Illinois they're scheduled tomorrow to talk to the stadium committee of the NFL and give them an update have you heard anything beyond

15:37what we know here no and look I think what's playing out is the bears realized that they didn't have any true leverage because they were never gonna leave Chicago once they stumbled into the Indiana option that gave them something that would wake up the powers that be in Illinois the question is will that be enough to get them everything they're looking for to be comfortable with building the stadium on the property they own in Arlington Heights that's the question and I don't know what's gonna happen and here's the reality if at the end of the day whatever Illinois puts together is good but not good enough do they just take that or are they serious about crossing the border into Indiana at some level their bluff may be called and they may not get 100% of what they're looking for what's the percentage where they'll say all right we'll do this anyway 80% 70% that's really the question will they press that button and

16:43go to Indiana or was Indiana all about getting the best possible deal from Illinois that they will take whatever it may be great stuff Mike thanks Mike have a good week that is Mike Floriel always fun to chat with him