The Kevin Karius Show - Mar. 9th, 2026 - Arif Hasan

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1:00Hi, this is Pablo Torei from Pablo Torei. Finds out. Today, I want to talk to you about boost mobile, because we spend a lot of time analyzing inefficiencies in sports, overvalued contracts, money tied up in the wrong places, and so on, but those inefficiencies aren't just on a roster. Sometimes, they're in your own monthly expenses. Boost mobile, says switching to their $25 unlimited forever plan, can unlock up to $600 in savings a year. That's $25 a month for unlimited data, talk, and text when you bring your own phone. If that money is trapped in a pricey phone bill, it might be worth a second look. Visit boostmobile.com to learn more. After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience lower speeds. Customers pay $25 per month, as long as they remain active on the boost mobile unlimited plan. Savings claim based on a January 2026 boost mobile survey of a thousand Americans with single line unlimited plans, comparing average annual payments of major carriers to 12 months on the boost mobile unlimited plan. For full offered details, visit boostmobile.com. We welcome back Arifa San from Wide Left football. Good morning, Arifa with Kevin Carrius.

2:03Once again, thanks for jumping on. Sports 1440 this morning really appreciate it. Yeah, thanks for having me on. Yeah, lots of things happen in today. I guess, then more so than two of being released out of Miami, what did you make of, and I guess this has been speculated for several weeks now, but what did you make of what the announcement was today, Arifa? Yeah, yeah. I actually had a writer pre-write a piece for when, too, a would-be release. So we knew well in advance that this was going to happen, but you know, he joined a number of quarterbacks entering the free agency market that are probably going to sign for veteran minimum because they're going to make the same amount of money either way because of a quirk in how these contracts are negotiated. If you make a certain amount of money after you're guaranteed money, then the original team that paid you that guaranteed money doesn't have to pay you the difference. So you make the same amount of money either way. So him, Kyler Murray, a couple of others will enter that market the same way, which will be, you know, an interesting option for teams looking for a veteran. I don't know that the, the Tua is going to command a market like a

3:09starting quarterback, you know, he might be in a position like Geno Smith, where maybe, you know, that's the expectation, but I think more likely he's going to join a team that needs a veteran mentor, maybe even Las Vegas, who are going to draft, you know, the number one overall pick, everyone expects Fernando Mendoza, and so he might be able to kind of guide that guy along. Do you think that Vegas is like a decent speculative landing spot for him? Yeah, I think that that's one of a couple of, of reasonable landing spots for him. You always want to pay attention to, you know, what's going to happen in other areas. So for example, if Aaron Rogers decides he doesn't want to play football or anything like that, then the Steelers have an opening at quarterback, and certainly you could see Tua playing there. But, you know, there's, there's not a ton of openings that make all of the sense in the world, like maybe the Browns, because they've got such cap problems, because of the Deshada Watson contract, that they're going to want an open competition between him and Shadoor Sanders and maybe Dylan Gabriel. But there

4:10aren't a lot of areas where we can see Tua landing. It doesn't come without repercussions either, a reef with now navigating 99 million in dead money against the cap for the dolphins here. Yeah, no, absolutely, and that's going to constrain them a lot. Luckily for the dolphins, they exercise an option called the post June 1st option. So if you release a player after June 1st, a certain amount of their cap hit takes a toll on this year's cap, and then a certain amount happens in next year's cap. But you can designate a player as having a post June 1st, as if you would release them then. And that's what they did. And so they get to split that cap up, I believe, in one of two ways. Either way, they'll be putting a decent chunk of it. I wouldn't say likely the bulk of it, but a decent chunk of it into the next year spread out that dead cap hit. But it is going to really complicate how they're going to handle free agency. And they're not in a position where they've got the ability to draft a surefire starter. They don't know what they have in Queen

5:14Ewers, a late round quarterback pick that they picked last season. And they don't really have a lot of money available to them to be aggressive in the market for a quarterback. So it'll be kind of curious to see how they approach that position. Arif Hassan from White Lab Football, our guest in the Kevin Curie Show. You mentioned Collar Murray. Do you see him landing in Minnesota, Arif? That seems to be the odds on favorite for sure. I think that there's a good chance he lands in Minnesota. Minnesota is in cap trouble, just like with two Akailas likely going to sign for veteran minimum, because his money won't change regardless of how much he signs for. And so that makes him an appealing option for Minnesota. Even if the the fit from a from a skill versus system standpoint isn't the best, you know, because Kyler always wants to be in shotgun. He doesn't always do a good job with play action. He doesn't, you know, coordinate well timing offenses. There are some some friction points between what he does well and what the Vikings would like to do. But he's still at the end of the day a talented quarterback. If you can stay healthy,

6:16given how well Kevin O'Connell has coached a lot of quarterbacks over the years, there's an expectation that if he signs with the Vikings, they might be able to generate a lot of offense this year. Assuming Kyler beats out J. Jim McCarthy and camp, which I think is the operating assumption for a lot of people. Also this morning, Cowboys make a bit of a splash here. Arif picking up Rashan Gary from the Packers. Some think that the price is a little high for like the pick and even the contract, how they have to fit him in, but maybe they work on restructuring this deal. Not sure, but what did you make of that deal that the Cowboys made? I thought it was a little bit curious. I think for the reason that you mentioned, it is a little bit high. Now, it's a fourth round pick, but it's not a fourth round pick this year for my understanding. It's a 2027 fourth round picks. That kind of dulls the blow a little bit, but still Rashan Gary had posted a couple of days ago on Instagram a goodbye note. He'd expected to be released. So when you go from somebody who's about to be released to somebody who's traded,

7:18sometimes you see like a sixth or seventh round pick swap or something like that. I think that just happened with Mika Fitzpatrick to the Jets. In order to avoid cutting him out right, they just traded like a seventh round pick for him. So I think that that is an unusual price for Rashan Gary and it's not to say he doesn't have a lot of inherent talent, but that talent hasn't translated into a lot of meaningful production outside of a really productive half year or a couple of years ago. I don't really understand the Cowboys approach here. I think they gave up a little bit too much. Like you said, they'll probably restructure that contract, but it is going to fill up some of that cap space for them. Yeah. Arif Hassan with us from Wide Left football. You know, the big trade obviously on the weekend with Max Crosby going to Baltimore. What did you make of this one because it was a hefty price, but it's a hell of a player too. Yeah, no, absolutely, and that's maybe the best way to put it. It's two first round picks, the number 14 overall pick this year, first round

8:19pick next year, outstanding player, I'm pretty confident he's just going to end up in the Hall of Fame when his career is over, and that's always a nice player to trade for. Nevertheless, it was slightly high, not that I think the Ravens were necessarily wrong here, but I'd expected them to go for like a first and a second or something like that. If you remember the Cleal Mac trade, where the Raiders traded to him over to the Bears, that was two first round picks and they got a second round pick back. And so that was actually a smaller price than the Max Crosby deal, and Cleal Mac was not too diminished back to Crosby, but Cleal Mac was one of the best players we'd ever seen at that point in his career. And so it was a pretty unusual price for the Ravens to pay. They do think that they're kind of on the cusp of doing a lot of stuff. They need to improve their past rush. They don't expect to keep a Dauphin away. So there are a lot of things here that have put a little bit more pressure on them to compete right away, given that what they've got in offense, what they've got on defense. But I think it was slightly high. I still kind of like the move.

9:23He's an outstanding player. Were you surprised that the Seahawks didn't tag Kenneth Walker the third and also Topony on that? Where do you think that the MVP of the Super Bowl, where's a good fit? Where do you think he could resurface? Yeah, I was a little bit surprised, but I was told that the combine that it wasn't going to happen. And so I guess I had a little bit of preparation that that wasn't going to happen. But I think some of it is that the Seahawks are always capable of finding running back talent. I think maybe it's a little bit easy to be overconfident in that. And I think that that might be where they are because they've had a couple of very successful drafts. But they've got Zack Sharpenay on the roster. So they're not going to be hurting for running back. And so maybe that's why they didn't want to commit to a tag, which puts a bunch of cap pressure on you right away. As for where he might land, there's a couple of places that might fit well. Again, if Minnesota was in a better cap environment situation with the release of Aaron Jones, he could be a decent fit there. He replicates some of the skillsets of Jordan Mason. Personally, I could see him being the Kansas City Chief. They always like having these consistent backs that always get you four or five yards. They have a

10:29couple of backs that are always going to get you, you know, maybe 30 yards or negative two yards, but they love those consistent backs. That's why they keep adding cream hunt. That's why they draft a Clyde Edwards Lair. That's why they drafted Isaiah Pacheco. That's why they kept, you know, running the ball with Isaiah Pacheco. And Kenneth Walker can do that and get you some explosive plays. And so I think that would be a good spot for the Chiefs to try and, you know, recapture some of the magic that they've had a couple of years ago. Can he turn into like more of a bell cow back at refill? I mean, he handled that when Sharpenay went down, but is a team ready and willing to commit to that kind of workload with them, you think? I think very few teams are willing to commit to that kind of workload for almost any running back. I think even a great player like Kenneth Walker, the Chiefs will probably find some way to supplement his workload. But if they're in a situation just like the Siox were this year, we're Sharpenay went down, if they're in a situation where they have to rely on Kenneth Walker for a couple of games at a time or even maybe half the

11:29season, I think they're very comfortable relying on that and giving them the full, you know, workload as a running back. So I wouldn't be that concerned about it. But I do think the Chiefs do like to have a couple of backs on the roster is not as aggressive as someone like Seattle or what Minnesota did this year. But certainly, I think that they do like to have a couple of backs on the roster to kind of spell their running backs a little bit. And I think that they would try to have that approach, you know, if they add a Kenneth Walker. The hustle doesn't have to hurt. If performance pressure is making it hard to breathe, growth therapy helps you navigate stress, set boundaries and actually feel like yourself again. Whether it's your first time in therapy or your 50th, grow makes it easier to find a therapist who fits you, not the other way around. You can search by what matters, like insurance, specialty identity or availability and get started in as little as two days. There are no subscriptions, no long-term commitments, you just pay per session. Grow helps you find therapy on your time. Whatever challenges you're facing, growth therapy is here to help. Grow accepts over 100 insurance

12:34plans, including Medicaid in some states. Sessions average about $21 with insurance and some pay as little as $0 depending on their plan. Visit growththerapy.com slash start now to get started. That's growtherapy.com slash start now. Growtherapy.com slash start now. Availability and coverage vary by state and insurance plan. Over 90 of the top 100 U.S. accounting firms trust Bill to simplify and secure Bill Pay. That's proven financial infrastructure built on over a trillion dollars of secure payments. Visit bill.com slash proven for a special offer. Arif Hassan from Waidla Football, our guest on the Kevin Carey show here on sports 1440. What kind of market do you think there is for Malik Willis moving forward here? There's all kinds of talk and rumors that some team is going to throw maybe 30 million bucks plus his way. For me, I think that's just a crazy number, but where do you see this kind of shaking down with

13:38with Malik Willis here, Arif? Yeah, I try to find it as much as I could at DNFL combine about this. I got a bunch of different answers. I got a couple of people that said that they would expect them to get $32 million a year. I asked like, well, I'm talking to you. Are you the team that's going to give them $32? They said no. They don't know of a team. They just expect that to happen. Other people said they wouldn't expect something like $20 million a year. Remember when Sam Donald's under the Vikings? It was $14 million something like that, maybe $10 million a year. These kind of revival projects, even though we got to see Malik Willis play really well for about six games. These revival projects don't actually get that much value in the market. Now that we've kind of been treated to the examples again and again, of quarterbacks in a small simple size, not being able to replicate what they did. I think a lot of people remember Matt Flynn from a number of years ago right before the Seahawks. Well, actually the same year the Seahawks drafted Russell Wilson. I think that that lesson is kind of stuck with people for a long time.

14:38I think that that'll maybe depress Malik Willis's market, but it is a little bit different because it was a larger sample size and also his production numbers are through the roof compared to everybody else assuming you kind of move the thresholds and statistical minimums and stuff like that. He did play pretty outstandingly well. He manipulated pockets in ways that you didn't expect him to do. So certainly I think he's going to be north of $20 million where between 20 and 30. He's going to land. I have no idea where he's going to end up. I have no idea. I know that Arizona and Miami are interested. I'm sure some other teams are probably interested. The Browns probably would be interested if they had the cap space for it. So he'll have a market developed for him, but whether he can turn that into something like I know at one point someone was like, yeah, he's going to get a contract with $100 million total over three years. I don't think that's going to happen, but that I think is the goal. We'll see. Unreal. Starting to hear more and more like the story is getting more and more legs about Travis Kelsey coming back for another

15:41season. What do you think of that? What are you hearing on that, Arif? Yeah, no. I mean, it sounds a little bit more and more like that's something that he's going to do. I don't know if it's going to be with the Chiefs, which would be a really interesting dynamic. I mean, he's been with them since he was drafted, I think 2013. He's an icon of the franchise. He'll have a market where he goes for two pretty obvious reasons. One is that he's still a fairly talented tight end. Not quite as talented as he was three, four years ago, of course, but his instinct for finding space, his physicality at the catchpoint. Those are still going to be there even as his speed has dropped off. I think a lot of teams are going to value that. He does play a lot more intuitively than a lot of tight ends do, which worked really well with Patrick Mahomes. We'll see if it works in a new system. Then of course, the second reason is that it's a phenomenal business decision for any franchise to bring him in just because of the Taylor Swift effect. I mean, that's just going to get you a couple of dollars walking into your building. I'm sure a couple of teams are going to be interested for both of those reasons, but certainly with an eye towards the second.

16:42Yeah, no kidding. Where do you think the future holds for AJ Brown? We were talking about him last week in the sense that what happened with Stefan Diggs and maybe a possibility for him to head back to and be reunited in New England here. Yeah. New England still remains my top spot for AJ Brando Land and trade. Obviously, there's the Mike Vrable connection. We've talked about that. We know that they've got that opportunity or opening because of Stefan Diggs leaving. And of course, even if they hadn't let go of Stefan Diggs, it would have made sense at AJ Brown because that is just not an outstanding receiving core by itself. Drake May is showing a lot of talent and you want to strike while the iron is hot. It does create a little bit of an interesting issue because you can cut a player with a post-junifers designation, but I don't believe you have the ability to necessarily trade a player with a post-junifers designation if you also want to designate that player or designated different player with that post-junifers designation,

17:46which is going to be the requirement for a trade for AJ Brando. I do think that the Eagles will still explore designating that in the trade, but it creates a lot of logistical problems. So we'll see if he physically does get traded after June 1st or if he gets traded soon, which will allow the Eagles to spread that cap head out because if they don't do that, they're going to take a huge cut or a huge hit in their cap, be something like negative 49 in cap space if they just, if they just trade them. So yeah, I think the Patriots are probably the top option. I'm sure other teams that want to build around a young quarterback will want him. I'm sure the Raiders are interested. Tom Brady has always been eyeing the kind of receiver talent that Las Vegas doesn't exactly have right now, and he's probed the market quietly for a little bit. But a ton of teams would be really, really happy to have him for a lot of different reasons. It wouldn't be shocked if the Raims were interested. Of course, they did just create a bunch of assets away for Trent McDuffee. So

18:48they're probably not going to be able to actually leverage anything. But there are all kinds of teams that are in a window where they think they can win pretty soon, where they're going to want AJ Brown and they're going to throw them the ball unlike the Eagles. Just regarding the NFL draft here, Arif and I just everyone assumes that the Raiders are going to take Fernando Mendoza. How do you see things shaking down after that though? Because there's a number of ways that things can go here. Yeah, no. There's a lot of questions just even at just at number two. I think a lot of people don't know what the Jets are or going to do whether they're going to pick Arvel Reese, who a lot of people think is the best player in the draft, regardless of position, what the Jets see Arvel Reese, the linebacker out of Ohio State as because he can play on the line of scrimmage as an edge defender, kind of like Max Crosby, or he can play off the ball as a linebacker, you know, is like a Bobby Wagner, right? Or he could be maybe in that early Micah Parsons role that the Cowboys had where he would play kind of both positions. I don't know. I do know that the Jets

19:52want to be an analytically driven front office. They've invested deeply into their stats in an analytics department and I know that people working in those departments typically don't see a lot of value in drafting linebackers very high. And so there might be kind of a combat between the two or if they see him as an edge rusher, that's not going to be a huge deal. Maybe they're interested in sunny styles who had a really outstanding combine, the other linebacker from Ohio State, they might be interested in the edge rusher Ruben Bain from Miami. Now he didn't have the world's best combine, I think because of the short arms. So maybe instead they'll go after David Bailey, the edge defender from Texas Tech, a lot of a lot of different directions you can go in and a lot of kind of funny storylines that you can find yourself looking at. Like what do we talk about arm length? Exactly. Arif, great stuff. Really appreciate you coming on. As always, take care. We'll probably talk with you soon as the draft approaches and things like that. So take care. As always, thanks for coming on. Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

20:52Hi, this is Pablo Tore from Pablo Tore finds out and today I want to talk to you about boost mobile because we spent a lot of time analyzing inefficiencies in sports, overvalued contracts, money tied up in the wrong places and so on. But those inefficiencies aren't just on a roster. Sometimes they're in your own monthly expenses. Boost mobile says switching to their $25 unlimited forever plan can unlock up to $600 in savings a year. That's $25 a month for unlimited data, talk and text when you bring your own phone. If that money is trapped in a pricey phone bill, it might be worth a second look. Visit boostmobile.com to learn more. After 30 gigabytes, customers may experience lower speeds. Customers pay $25 per month as long as they remain active on the boost mobile and limited plan. Savings claim based on January 2026, boost mobile survey of 1,000 Americans with single line on limited plans, comparing average annual payments of major carriers to 12 months on the boost mobile and limited plan. For full offer details, visit boostmobile.com. With almost half a million customers and over a trillion dollars of secure payments, Bill isn't new to intelligent finance. It's the proven way to

21:57simplify bill pay and maximize cash flow. Want to learn more? Visit bill.com slash proven for a special offer. Acas powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. This season on The Dream. Supplies are being updated by nurses who run out in the middle of the night and purchase diapers, but the hospital is still charging as if they still have these items. We are digging into every topic we've ever wanted to cover on this show. It's a spinning plate analogy. It's a second that you stop spinning those plates that crashes, so you can never stop working. The Dream season four comes out you weekly starting Monday January 20th. Acas helps creators launch, grow, and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acas.com