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EPISODE 40 - featuring Michael Hurley! Patriots Trades?? Bruins/Celtics free agency!
207 Plays2 months ago
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Transcript
Introduction and Sports Agenda
00:00:00
Savage Boston
Alright guys, welcome back to the Savage Boston Podcast. I'm Scott with Savage Boston Sports here with the man, the myth, the legend, Michael Hurley. How we doing, Michael?
00:00:11
Michael Hurley
I'm doing great. Thanks for having me.
00:00:13
Savage Boston
Oh, good. ah Michael, very kind, friend of the pod to to join us again. ah Yeah, so we got kind of...
00:00:20
Michael Hurley
Well, let me let me interrupt you because I've been asked to do many podcasts, not many return visits.
00:00:21
Savage Boston
Yeah, go for it.
00:00:27
Michael Hurley
It's kind of one and done. like and ah you know I wear out my welcome quickly, so you know it's an honor to be back.
00:00:28
Savage Boston
Ha ha ha.
00:00:32
Savage Boston
Well, you know welcome anytime you want, man, you come on in. we can We can get like seven people in this group when it's all up and running.
00:00:36
Michael Hurley
All right.
00:00:39
Savage Boston
so
00:00:39
Michael Hurley
Nice.
00:00:40
Savage Boston
um But yeah, man, so we got obviously kind of like dead zone for for the Pats. um I know everyone's on vacation and Tom Curran's probably out golfing somewhere and you know where where people are enjoying their
Patriots Trade Speculations
00:00:52
Savage Boston
their time off. But um just a couple tidbits this week.
00:00:56
Savage Boston
I want to get your thoughts. How do you feel about any sort of potential trade scenarios. And I know that just to preface this, I get they're unlikely, like, and and this is, you know, hypothetical, but they have $60 million dollars in cap space.
00:01:07
Michael Hurley
Mm-hmm.
00:01:12
Savage Boston
They have ah the position, the flexibility that if they really wanted to, they could add a player. um You know, the number one guy comes everyone's mind is someone like Terry McLaurin. So how are you feeling about a potential a trade scenario?
00:01:25
Michael Hurley
Yeah, I mean, i look at where they're at going into this draft as a two to three year build. If you can get a star player right now, you're cutting off a huge chunk of that build.
00:01:38
Michael Hurley
You know what i mean? Like you're you're trying to, I mean, they basically stripped it down to the studs this offseason, rebuilding not from scratch entirely, but really jettisoning, I don't know, half the roster.
00:01:40
Savage Boston
Mm-hmm.
00:01:52
Michael Hurley
And the goal is to have a good draft this year, a good draft next year, and then a good draft a year after that.
00:01:57
Savage Boston
yeah
00:01:57
Michael Hurley
If you can get a TJ Watt or a Tyra McClurin, like you are skipping a step in that, that I think is a worthwhile gamble, or I don't even you call it a gamble. If it's if it's a bona fide star.
00:02:08
Michael Hurley
they They need them like they they don't have them for as much good steps and progress that they've made this year. I think they still desperately need that. So, you know, you don't want to go crazy. You don't want to overpay. You don't want to give up firsts or anything. But money, I don't know how you could care about money that much right now.
00:02:24
Michael Hurley
and And it seems you tell me if I'm wrong. mclaurin isn't asking for the moon he's asking for 32 million he's asking for you know what he deserves so i think if you get a player of that caliber you get to pay him that much so uh i'm i am uh what's the right word adamantly for it strongly for it i think it would do a lot for them this year
00:02:28
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:02:43
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:02:46
Savage Boston
Yeah, i think people, i had someone the other day on Twitter, and again, most of my experience is through Twitter on
Impact of Star Players on Patriots
00:02:51
Savage Boston
here, right?
00:02:51
Michael Hurley
yeah
00:02:51
Savage Boston
um Someone said they listed out of the four receivers as to why we shouldn't trade for someone like Terry McLaurin. They listed Javon Baker as one of those receivers as to a reason why we don't need to trade for Terry McLaurin.
00:03:04
Savage Boston
And I own almost lost it. like And I know I go off on Baker a lot on on here, but um just because people for some reason keep hyping up this player, regardless of him having one catch and not being able to get on the field.
00:03:16
Michael Hurley
yeah
00:03:17
Savage Boston
um I don't get how you how you could like – people are just people just delusional and they don't realize what kind of player Terry McLaurin is. like Where are people at? like i don't i don't It's crazy.
00:03:26
Michael Hurley
Maybe going to give you numbers. I know numbers on a podcast don't always work, but I got these ready. This is going to be six numbers.
00:03:31
Savage Boston
Do it.
00:03:32
Michael Hurley
Are you ready for them?
00:03:33
Savage Boston
Yes.
00:03:42
Michael Hurley
That's Terry output since entering the league in 2019. It's like you need that desperately.
00:03:45
Savage Boston
Yeah. Yeah.
00:03:47
Michael Hurley
And I know Stephon Diggs in a pie in the sky best case scenario is that guy. But that's a huge unknown for a guy that old coming off ACL. Like he looks great. He's checked all the boxes. But One setback and you're not getting anything like that. This is this is a known commodity.
00:04:03
Michael Hurley
ah And and it like I said, he's he's asking for what he's worth. He's not asking to set records or or maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think he's asking for the the highest contract of receivers ever gotten.
00:04:08
Savage Boston
yeah
00:04:15
Michael Hurley
And Washington, for whatever reason, is not budging. So yeah as for the Baker part, I don't know, man. I don't have an answer for you on that one.
00:04:23
Savage Boston
Yeah. I don't get, I mean, i know people, you know, most teams like they just, he's a veteran with, with the commanders and I assume they're trying to get them on like, like ah they're probably getting, what did Godwin get?
00:04:35
Savage Boston
Like 25 or something, 24 or maybe?
00:04:37
Michael Hurley
I think so. And I think we know the Patriots offered what 6 million more.
00:04:41
Savage Boston
thirty
00:04:42
Michael Hurley
Yeah. So I got his contract right now three years, 66 million.
00:04:42
Savage Boston
yeah
00:04:45
Michael Hurley
So 22 million.
00:04:46
Savage Boston
Yeah, 22.
00:04:46
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:04:47
Savage Boston
Yeah. twenty two yeah so So Godwin got 22.
00:04:48
Michael Hurley
and the
00:04:49
Savage Boston
So I think they're they're basically like, can we do the Chris Godwin model? Like, does this guy want to stay here?
00:04:56
Michael Hurley
right
00:04:56
Savage Boston
You know what I mean? Like heartstrings. but But in reality, that's just Godwin. And maybe he's a special guy and they got lucky. um
00:05:03
Michael Hurley
yeah
00:05:04
Savage Boston
But i don't I don't see the – like he's going to get $30 million dollars somewhere.
00:05:09
Michael Hurley
Right. That's just sort of market value. So yeah, the difference would be Godwin has had all those injuries, I guess. And so he felt, i mean, he could have gotten more elsewhere, but he doesn't seem like someone who wanted to move.
00:05:19
Savage Boston
Yeah. And so I think McLaurin would be a huge option. um Another, i I don't, I just don't see the reality at all of TJ Watt. I just can't, I truly can't imagine him leaving. And there's some leaks today by a couple of guys that he's probably going to get a massive deal.
00:05:33
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:05:33
Savage Boston
Doesn't mean it's going to really happen, but um I can't see it. the The one guy I can see parting ways is Trey Hendrickson.
00:05:40
Michael Hurley
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:05:40
Savage Boston
um I feel like he's been disgruntled for like, it feels like years. um I know the risk too. He's what, 30 years old as well. um Led the league in pressures.
00:05:52
Savage Boston
ah How do you feel about Trey Hendrickson?
00:05:55
Michael Hurley
I mean, he's a star and it would like it would be immense like that, that, that front seven.
00:05:57
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:06:00
Michael Hurley
It might've been your tweet where you were naming everyone in the front seven. If you add an actual star, you know, a pro bowl caliber caliber player to that mix, you're talking about a ah difference maker.
00:06:03
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:06:10
Michael Hurley
And now I don't think, and people might say the Eagles proved this wrong, but that's a different situation. I don't think you can win championships on defense. Yeah. in today's NFL, like you used to be able to, ah the 2019 Patriots was as good of a defense as you can get.
00:06:21
Savage Boston
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:06:26
Michael Hurley
They couldn't win a wildcard game.
00:06:27
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:06:27
Michael Hurley
um But if you don't have the offensive star power, but you do have a ah menacing front seven in a good secondary, you're going to win more games than you would without it. So I like Trey Hendrickson.
00:06:41
Michael Hurley
um I don't know that I'd go as crazy for him as I would someone like McLaurin for that reason, but
00:06:47
Savage Boston
Mm-hmm.
00:06:48
Michael Hurley
If it's just a matter of it's not going to work out in Cincinnati and you could get them for like, I don't know, a third. Is that stupid?
00:06:54
Savage Boston
I think a third feels realistic, to be honest, because I don i think there's risk there. Like, I don't know how is his physical is, but if you had a guy like a bona fide edge like that, and then I don't know what you do with someone like Harold Landry, who you've paid.
00:06:58
Michael Hurley
Right.
00:07:06
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:07:06
Savage Boston
um But like, if you had a bona fide edge, Keon White on the other side, and obviously Milton Williams and and Christian Barmore, you know, you're you're kind of mimicking or trying to mimic what the Eagles did.
00:07:17
Michael Hurley
Yeah. And the reason I said they didn't really prove it wrong is because they also had the best running back in the NFL and probably the best one, two wide receiver combo in the league.
00:07:22
Savage Boston
I know.
00:07:25
Savage Boston
and
00:07:25
Michael Hurley
So other, if you have those things, you can definitely win a Superbowl with a strong defense.
00:07:27
Savage Boston
Yeah. How do you feel about Jalen Hurts
NFL Game Experiences and Travel
00:07:31
Savage Boston
off topic? how do you Do you feel like he um gets a bad rap or is he just kind of like that that fill-in quarterback who is benefiting from an outstanding roster?
00:07:40
Michael Hurley
I think more the latter, but I don't like to just discredit guys that win Super Bowls and play really well in big games.
00:07:46
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:07:47
Michael Hurley
Like, I think that's a significant...
00:07:48
Savage Boston
like He did play really well.
00:07:49
Michael Hurley
yeah and he had a great playoff run, if I'm not... I mean, I don't have the numbers or anything like that, but he did look...
00:07:53
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:07:56
Michael Hurley
like compared to when he came into the league to now, he looks like he runs half the speed that he used to, which is probably just part of the play style of running into linebackers. So the fact that they got Barkley when they did probably is going to prolong his career a little bit because he doesn't he doesn't look like the same runner.
00:08:14
Michael Hurley
um And as a passer, I mean, he's okay, but you know what are you going to do? He won a Super Bowl. You can't take it away. Yeah.
00:08:19
Savage Boston
They did have just a ridiculous roster. And I feel like Saquon getting shut down kind of proves that, you know, running back is in such a bad place. And,
00:08:28
Michael Hurley
yeah
00:08:29
Savage Boston
paying for running back. And I know that Eagles paid Saquon, but they're also the highest cash, cash heavy spending team in the league. So um they sprinkle it kind of everybody, but someone like Trayvon, he Trayvon Henderson, I'm optimistic.
00:08:36
Michael Hurley
yeah
00:08:43
Savage Boston
I don't know if, if, if all three, you know, Ramondre, Antonio Gibson and Trayvon are all going to make the roster. And then like maybe land Larrison too. Like, I don't know. Everyone's trying to hype up land Larrison, but you think,
00:08:54
Michael Hurley
yeah What do you think about like Ramondre as a surprise cut just because he had back to back bad years this past year being, you know, his worst with the fumble situation.
00:08:57
Savage Boston
yeah
00:09:00
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:09:03
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:09:06
Michael Hurley
So I could I don't think he's entering if if it was Bill Belichick as head coach who drafted him. Maybe it's a different scenario, but I don't see him having a lock on the roster, a lock on his roster spot like he might otherwise.
00:09:19
Savage Boston
Yeah. I mean, let me, um we ah let me look up his contract real quick. It's not, it's not horrible. It's not amazing, but he, he's making
00:09:24
Michael Hurley
You don't want to cut it, obviously, but it's...
00:09:27
Savage Boston
No, but like in 2025, I mean, you know, your cap hit is only 5 million from him. Dead cap would be $6 million. dollars Like you, you could, you could cut him. It doesn't hurt you in any way. He's not making a crazy amount of money.
00:09:40
Savage Boston
So like, I'm not sure if they have the need to, we had, we had Doug on Doug kite on your guy.
00:09:45
Michael Hurley
Nice.
00:09:45
Savage Boston
And, uh, we talked about a lot of kind of surprise cuts on there too. And, um, you know, either him or Antonio Gibson, that wouldn't shock me at all.
00:09:49
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:09:53
Savage Boston
Um,
00:09:53
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:09:55
Savage Boston
And I don't understand.
00:09:55
Michael Hurley
Well, I'm looking.
00:09:55
Savage Boston
Mondrake's lost a ton of weight. Do you see that?
00:09:58
Michael Hurley
had it, no.
00:09:59
Savage Boston
He lost. There's new pictures that came out. He's probably lost like it looks like about 20 pounds. Like he looks very lean, um which is weird because that's not really even his play style.
00:10:03
Michael Hurley
Really? Hmm.
00:10:09
Michael Hurley
Right. Well, I mean, he's never... Maybe it will allow him to break free on a run at some point. We were talking about this...
00:10:14
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:10:15
Michael Hurley
I forget where. we We were debating the longest run of his career. I don't know if if you... it was I think it was against Cincinnati last year.
00:10:22
Savage Boston
Oh, man.
00:10:23
Michael Hurley
It was like 57 yards.
00:10:24
Savage Boston
You had a long one.
00:10:24
Michael Hurley
And it's like
00:10:25
Savage Boston
I think I was there. I might have been there.
00:10:27
Michael Hurley
his longest regular season run is 41 yards.
00:10:28
Savage Boston
but
00:10:32
Savage Boston
Oh, really?
00:10:33
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:10:34
Savage Boston
Not exactly a home run hitter.
00:10:36
Michael Hurley
Oh, sorry. Do I have that right? I'm an idiot.
00:10:39
Savage Boston
isn it more
00:10:40
Michael Hurley
Oh, no. Sorry. 64 yards in 2023.
00:10:41
Savage Boston
Okay, that's that's legit.
00:10:42
Michael Hurley
I'm sorry.
00:10:42
Savage Boston
That's a home run hit. There you go.
00:10:43
Michael Hurley
But last year, his longest run...
00:10:45
Savage Boston
Sorry, Ramondre. Pardon me.
00:10:46
Michael Hurley
my That was my bad. I was looking at receive, but his longest run last year was 33 yards. It's like, man, so maybe that was part of it. But the fumbling is the bigger issue to me.
00:10:55
Savage Boston
Oh, yeah.
00:10:55
Michael Hurley
um But I'm looking, I'm messing with over the cap. I don't know what your go-to cap website is.
00:10:59
Savage Boston
Yes, Spow Track or whatever, Over the Cap, yeah.
00:11:00
Michael Hurley
Okay. But so if he's cut post-June 1st, there's a $7.6 million dollars dead money. But if you trade him post-June 1st, it's a $1.6 million dollars dead money. So if you find someone that wants him...
00:11:14
Michael Hurley
um Like a training camp injury situation. Maybe that's a thing, but that's kind of ah tough one.
00:11:17
Savage Boston
Yeah. ah sp But we don't even have to play... It's funny, like, with the roster, we don't even even have to play GM because...
00:11:24
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:11:24
Savage Boston
They have too much cap.
00:11:26
Michael Hurley
True.
00:11:26
Savage Boston
Like we don't even have to. It's like, you know, if if they were up against it, we'd be like, oh, we can do this. Like it doesn't matter. Like if they want the player, keep the player.
00:11:34
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:34
Savage Boston
you know mean? If they don't want them, trade them, cut them.
00:11:37
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:11:37
Savage Boston
You know what I mean? Like ah they got too much money and too much space and they really should be able to decide. You know what Also, if you think he's talented at all and you can fix the fumbling, just keep him on the roster.
00:11:47
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Yeah. I like the player. I think he had a great debut the first couple of years.
00:11:50
Savage Boston
Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:53
Michael Hurley
I was just thinking lot because I do think Travion Henderson has a future in the league. I don't know if that's just like the standard optimism for a rookie that you watched play in college play really well, but um I do think he's going to be a player.
00:11:57
Savage Boston
I
00:12:05
Michael Hurley
So it's, it's, you're right. They don't have to do it. So I guess it's just a matter of numbers on the, on the 53. Yeah.
00:12:12
Savage Boston
i would say an interesting cut scenario. And we did ask Doug about this too, is how do you feel about one of the two kind of strong safeties getting cut? Because ah they're ah like a little bit redundant with Duggar and Peppers.
00:12:24
Savage Boston
Like they're both aggressive as, as we're able to say like violent players. Right. But are they redundant?
00:12:28
Michael Hurley
Mm-hmm.
00:12:30
Savage Boston
Like, do you still like Craig Woodson going to play free safety and then you have too many strong safeties? Like, how do you feel about one of them getting a surprise cut?
00:12:37
Michael Hurley
Yeah, i I mean, it's on the table. Again, I'd have to look at the implications. And I know you just kind of said they don't have to look at the implications, but I feel like every owner is not going to want to pay.
00:12:47
Savage Boston
Yeah, of course. Yeah.
00:12:48
Michael Hurley
So I brought up Duggar. if that was pre pre If he was cut before June 1st, there was a $23 million dollars dead cap charge. so I don't think that...
00:12:56
Savage Boston
Yeah, it's a lot. Yeah.
00:12:57
Michael Hurley
But it's still huge. It's 14.25. So I feel like that's enough to secure him for this year alone. Like there are certain things...
00:13:03
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:13:04
Michael Hurley
Vrabel probably has a lot of... ah What's the word? ah Freedom. But there's a there's a there's a word adults use ah that's better than free. la I'll think of it before the end of this um latitude, I guess. I don't know. He probably has a lot of freedom to do what he wants, but I'm guessing taking on that kind of cap it. But yeah, I mean, Pepper's.
00:13:23
Michael Hurley
it It might be an interesting look at the locker room because we know Vrabel got rid of a lot of previous leaders, ah previous captains, and Peppers not being one of the guys that got cut.
00:13:30
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:13:34
Michael Hurley
So he must have you know passed some test already with the head coach. So based on that, I feel like it's looking good for them. But ah you know that's why they call them surprise cuts, I guess.
00:13:45
Savage Boston
yeah And Duggar just feels like an old regime guy. he i think he might be the oldest tenured Patriot.
00:13:51
Michael Hurley
Really?
00:13:51
Savage Boston
um And he feels like, you know, he just feels old regime. And so I don't I get some some feeling about Duggar. have no no insider baseball on that. I just get, you know, just a feeling, just a haunting.
00:14:00
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:14:03
Michael Hurley
He's another guy. And I mean, the biggest one is Keon White, but that we could probably name a half dozen to a dozen guys that took such a big step backwards last year with no coaching that I want to give some of them leeway to get in a real system again, because last year was kind of a lost year for a lot of those guys.
00:14:12
Savage Boston
Yeah. Yep.
00:14:22
Savage Boston
Yeah. I mean, can you believe, like, we're looking back, did they put DeMarcus Covington in charge of the defense?
00:14:28
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was, it was, I can't believe a lot of things about last year. um
00:14:34
Savage Boston
and I know talked about this last time, too. Yeah. Yeah.
00:14:36
Michael Hurley
yeah. And just even can not to, you know, rehash last year, but even just like may it would come out and be like, uh, we got designed runs for may or whatever.
00:14:47
Michael Hurley
And then, and then, you know, they, it's, it's just between the,
00:14:48
Savage Boston
yeah
00:14:52
Savage Boston
yeah and then AVP comes out. He's like, yeah, we never ah yeah we don't run them.
00:14:56
Michael Hurley
Well, yeah, he's like, we're trying to protect him. And it's like, well what are you trying to protect him for? You're going to be gone in 10 minutes. Like you got to But I get that you don't want to just run him into a wall. But then they ran him like 17 times the next week. And it's like there was just no direction or decision. make It was insane.
00:15:12
Savage Boston
Yeah. Also, like teach the guy how to fucking slide.
00:15:16
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:15:16
Savage Boston
like For real. like t like He needs to get down.
00:15:17
Michael Hurley
Good. Like take him out of the game if he doesn't like you.
00:15:21
Savage Boston
I was at, I think it was against maybe the Jets.
00:15:21
Michael Hurley
what
00:15:23
Savage Boston
I was at the game ah where he went out for the entire game. Like we're there. It's first quarter.
00:15:28
Michael Hurley
Oh yeah.
00:15:29
Savage Boston
He gets a concussion, leaves entire game. Like I can't tell you how miserable everyone was in that crowd who's just there to watch Drake May.
00:15:36
Michael Hurley
I remember my, uh, a friend of mine was working outside the stadium and sent me a video of just thousands of people leaving at halftime because it was like, ah, brutal.
00:15:45
Savage Boston
Oh my, it was painful. we We stayed for a while and like my, I go with my dad and you know, he's often a, ah you know, he's kind of ah a leave early kind of guy.
00:15:54
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:15:54
Savage Boston
Not, not trying to put a, put a bad words on him, but he likes to, he likes to beat the traffic, that kind of guy.
00:15:59
Michael Hurley
No.
00:16:01
Michael Hurley
Well, it's important to note because anyone that's not in this market doesn't understand how different Foxborough is. you know like
00:16:07
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:16:08
Michael Hurley
When you leave any professional sporting venue, it's going to be crowded, but like you physically can't leave Gillette for like at least an hour and a half if you wait until the end of the game.
00:16:15
Savage Boston
It's awful. You got to just tailgate afterwards in one of those lots where they like pay you money.
00:16:19
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Yeah.
00:16:20
Savage Boston
um But yeah, man.
00:16:21
Michael Hurley
or Or just go to a 2024 Patriots game because it's kind of like come and go as you please.
00:16:28
Savage Boston
That's true. it was like yeah it it was It was surreal. I think this year, especially opening day, I'll be at the first game. Are you going to go to any games this year?
00:16:35
Michael Hurley
Um, we'll see, you know, your, your pal Mike is still, you know, in the market for some work. So hopefully, hopefully, yeah, hope, hopefully I'll be working.
00:16:41
Savage Boston
Hire Mike. Everyone hire Mike, please.
00:16:45
Michael Hurley
Uh, but we'll, uh, TBD, i'll I'll say that TBD for now.
00:16:48
Savage Boston
Sure. Well, I think, you know, that first game against the Raiders is going to be just outstanding.
00:16:54
Savage Boston
I think just the crowd is going to be outrageous. So I'm excited about it. And I think it's going crazy. I'm going to that one. I'm going to the Steelers game. And I think I'm going to the Falcons game.
00:16:54
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:17:06
Michael Hurley
Nice.
00:17:06
Savage Boston
um And then I'll see how how the rest of the year shakes out. But yeah, let's.
00:17:10
Michael Hurley
What would your, uh, what, if you were to, you know, i don't know if you ever see them on the road, what would your, what would your city be this year?
00:17:18
Savage Boston
If I went to go on the road.
00:17:20
Michael Hurley
If you had your druthers, which one would you pick?
00:17:22
Savage Boston
So I know, I know.
00:17:22
Michael Hurley
It's not.
00:17:23
Savage Boston
So I'll put it this way. I know the game that a lot of guys that are season ticket holders are going to, and I've already planned and they're all heading to Tampa Bay.
00:17:31
Michael Hurley
Oh, really?
00:17:32
Savage Boston
Yeah. A lot they already booked it. So like there's this big crew of guys.
00:17:34
Michael Hurley
Interesting. Interesting.
00:17:35
Savage Boston
One of one of them is my neighbor who, uh, who's a season ticket holder and and I'm a season ticket holder now. And so we basically, um, they're all They got this huge group that's going down to Tampa. So that's where they're taking over.
00:17:49
Michael Hurley
Got it. I would have guessed New Orleans in October, but, or Nashville the next week, but.
00:17:50
Savage Boston
I
00:17:53
Savage Boston
i mean, that would be – Yeah, so they're they're at they're at the Titans this year.
00:17:59
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:18:00
Savage Boston
i mean, Nashville is is a home run any year, right?
00:18:02
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:18:02
Savage Boston
I've actually never been to that city, but I know it's supposed to be just an awesome time.
00:18:05
Michael Hurley
It's, um, I went a couple few years ago for my friend's bachelor party and I was like a few years older than them. So I was the oldest one there.
00:18:12
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:18:13
Michael Hurley
And I'll tell you, like, it's like, if you don't love just constantly drinking, you do run out of things to do. So, um, if you do love it though, it's, it's the place to be.
00:18:23
Savage Boston
Well, unfortunately for me, you know I'm 38-year-old man now. So the drinking stuff is fun for like a couple drinks.
00:18:28
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Yeah. No.
00:18:33
Michael Hurley
Two beers. Yeah.
00:18:35
Savage Boston
And then you're like, oh, like this I can't do this very much.
00:18:37
Michael Hurley
Yeah, one more and I got to go to bed. But I'll tell you ah where the fans won't be filling up, and that is I don't think any Patriots fans will make the trip to Cincinnati November 23rd.
00:18:39
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:18:48
Michael Hurley
So that is probably the...
00:18:48
Savage Boston
Cincy. Yeah, that'd be, I mean, there's lot. I mean, I think going to Buffalo feels hellish like week five.
00:18:55
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:18:55
Savage Boston
um That would be miserable. Going to Cincy, it's ugly.
00:18:57
Michael Hurley
Or even Miami. Miami in September is tough.
00:19:01
Savage Boston
That's just tough. Yeah, that's that's just, I just wouldn't physically want to be there.
Bruins' Off-season Analysis
00:19:04
Michael Hurley
Right.
00:19:04
Savage Boston
um where I would say, um I think the worst game of the year, and maybe they'll be playing great ball by then, but I think worst game of the year is at the Ravens.
00:19:04
Michael Hurley
Right.
00:19:14
Savage Boston
It's December 21st at Baltimore, and that is just,
00:19:15
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:19:19
Savage Boston
i think it's it's I think it's a night game.
00:19:21
Michael Hurley
um
00:19:21
Savage Boston
um it's not right It's not right now a night game, but it will be probably.
00:19:22
Michael Hurley
As of now, yeah, right. Yeah, most likely. And that's one where those night games late in the season in Baltimore are games when even when the Patriots were at their peak, they would win maybe half the time.
00:19:33
Savage Boston
Oh, yeah.
00:19:34
Michael Hurley
Sometimes you needed Rex Ryan calling timeout and saving the undefeated season.
00:19:38
Savage Boston
yeah
00:19:39
Michael Hurley
ah So, yeah.
00:19:39
Savage Boston
That was a tight game. That was a really tight game back in 07.
00:19:42
Michael Hurley
yeah I guess in retrospect, they should have lost. Maybe that would have helped, but.
00:19:45
Savage Boston
They should have lost a lot of games that year, actually, towards the end. There was a few that that got incredibly tight. And they should have lost, like, the divisional.
00:19:50
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:19:51
Savage Boston
weren't they Was it, like, the Chargers?
00:19:52
Michael Hurley
um the
00:19:53
Savage Boston
It was really tight.
00:19:54
Michael Hurley
That was the AFC Championship game. They absolutely sucked against the Chargers.
00:19:57
Savage Boston
They were horrible.
00:19:57
Michael Hurley
Brady, i think I think Brady threw three picks. They won that game. Do you know who the star of that game was?
00:20:01
Savage Boston
Was it Troy Brown?
00:20:01
Michael Hurley
his name His name was Lawrence Maroney.
00:20:04
Savage Boston
Oh.
00:20:04
Michael Hurley
I think he had three touchdowns. I'm looking it up because you know this was this was history right here.
00:20:07
Savage Boston
Did he? Dude, I was so high on Lawrence Maroney. Like, I was like, oh, we got Lawrence.
00:20:11
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:20:13
Savage Boston
He's going to be sick. And he just – talk about fizzle, man. Like, he would get the ball and just go sideways.
00:20:15
Michael Hurley
All right. Yeah, he had the body. He just didn't have the mentality. He didn't have three touchdowns, but he had 25 for 122 while Tom Brady threw three picks and got sacked twice.
00:20:23
Savage Boston
Wow.
00:20:26
Savage Boston
Oh,
00:20:28
Michael Hurley
No fumbles, but yeah, it was all Maroney like that offense. I mean, it was cold. And so I think what killed I could do like a couple hours on the 07 Patriots if you want.
00:20:37
Savage Boston
ah yeah, yeah.
00:20:38
Michael Hurley
But the problem is, right, they played that game the week before they beat Jacksonville. Both games were cold New England games. Then they go to Super Bowl and they come out in an I formation with a fullback and a tight end and two receivers on the field.
00:20:50
Michael Hurley
It's like, guys, you're the 07 Patriots. Like, you should have four receivers out there going five wide and just gunning it.
00:20:52
Savage Boston
god
00:20:57
Michael Hurley
And they scored 14 points.
00:20:59
Savage Boston
You know, i've I've still like never gone back really and watch that game.
00:21:02
Michael Hurley
Hmm.
00:21:03
Savage Boston
Like I've never sat there even like a repeat and you would have thought I would have by now.
00:21:06
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:21:08
Savage Boston
I've watched all the tapes of all the old Super Bowls, but like I've never gone back and just watched it because it was such a horrific experience.
00:21:08
Michael Hurley
Yeah. not
00:21:15
Savage Boston
I know for all of us and you know, we won six.
00:21:16
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:21:18
Savage Boston
It's still that year, man.
00:21:20
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:21:20
Savage Boston
Um,
00:21:21
Michael Hurley
I did. I did watch.
00:21:22
Savage Boston
You did?
00:21:23
Michael Hurley
So the player of the game, from my perspective, watching it, like, i don't know, 10 years, Adelis Thomas was unbelievable in that game.
00:21:23
Savage Boston
Oh, God. Was
00:21:29
Michael Hurley
He was a monster. Like he might've been the MVP.
00:21:30
Savage Boston
he? He
00:21:33
Michael Hurley
And then I'm trying to remember if I could get the starters, Nick Casher lost the whole game for them. That was the entire, like no one would ever talk about Nick Casher as, as the reason, but I think Steve Neal got hurt.
00:21:40
Savage Boston
got smoked. Hmm.
00:21:47
Michael Hurley
Someone got hurt. There was an injury on that.
00:21:48
Savage Boston
Menkins was not right in that game.
00:21:48
Michael Hurley
So,
00:21:50
Savage Boston
Wait, Menkins, wait, wait.
00:21:51
Michael Hurley
ah
00:21:52
Savage Boston
Yeah, Menkins. Menkins was not right in that game.
00:21:53
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:21:54
Savage Boston
He was injured both Super Bowls a little bit.
00:21:56
Michael Hurley
Well, so Casher started at right tackle. Steve Neal started right guard. I think Casher did suck. And then Neal got hurt. And whoever they put in at backup right guard, it was just like the whole right side of the line was useless.
00:22:09
Michael Hurley
And that guy, Tom Brady, had no chance. And it was ugly. But yeah, it was an interesting watch ah to to watch it 10 years later. But yeah, i understand not wanting to watch that one.
00:22:17
Savage Boston
So that was Steve Spagnola, right?
00:22:19
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:22:20
Savage Boston
So Spags is there for that.
00:22:20
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:22:21
Savage Boston
I mean, how good of a fucking coach is Spags?
00:22:24
Michael Hurley
I know it's ridiculous.
00:22:25
Savage Boston
mean, what he's done for Kansas City. I mean, i know Andy Reid with the offense give them plenty of credit. in the last few seasons, like, they're winning because they're defense.
00:22:33
Michael Hurley
Yeah. No, yeah. he's He's like a great example, and and you could patriotize it if you want because you know there's still debates about McDaniels and whether he's the right coach. And it's like, look, no one is saying he did anything good in Vegas.
00:22:48
Michael Hurley
No one's saying he did anything good in Denver. But the man has done pretty well as an offensive coordinator, even in spurts without Tom Brady. So it's like some people are just really good coordinators and not good coaches. And he is, I mean, Spagnuolo should probably be in the Hall of Fame for it.
00:23:03
Savage Boston
Absolutely. I mean, he, you know, again, I think people don't need it because of my homes, like in how, how hot my home started, like people really don't give spags enough credit and how amazing, I mean, go look up their numbers, scoring defense, Kansas city, the last like two, three years. I mean, they've been incredible.
00:23:19
Savage Boston
What, you know, what he's done with, with, you know, Chris Jones or whoever has been incredible that hold it. They're, they're DBs. They've been a great defense. And then, They're basically, they modeled the the Patriots.
00:23:30
Savage Boston
I mean, that was their model for for sustainability. They had an excellent, well-coached defense, and they had a historic quarterback. And it's like, then they're switching out wide receivers.
00:23:38
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:23:40
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:23:41
Savage Boston
You know, like like that's their that's their model.
00:23:41
Michael Hurley
and
00:23:44
Savage Boston
So, you know, I think it's been, um yeah they've they've been an amazing team, but... I guess to pivot now to Boston sports relevancy, I'll just – because we'll probably go on. I could go on for football and like just the Super Bowls and stuff for a very long time.
00:24:00
Michael Hurley
Oh yeah.
00:24:01
Savage Boston
um I would say let's shift it just to like – um Let's do the Bruins first only because it's so disappointing and people are so angry. I know Felger's ranting about hockey East and, and whatever, which is, which is funny. It's a funny rant.
00:24:16
Savage Boston
Like how are you feeling about just what the Bruins have done this off season in general thus far?
00:24:23
Michael Hurley
I think it's funny that for the first time ever in Don Sweeney's decade running the show is everyone sort of universally loved their draft. Everyone was like, great draft, great draft.
00:24:34
Savage Boston
Yeah, true. Yeah, they liked it.
00:24:37
Michael Hurley
And then he followed it up by just being Don Sweeney today. And just, it's a team that needed, i don't know that they could have solved anything today, but what they did obviously doesn't get them anywhere other than where they already were.
00:24:49
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:24:49
Michael Hurley
Like they're, they're just,
00:24:53
Michael Hurley
You can't you can't honestly go in with just three third lines and David Posterknock and be like we'll be fine. It's just crazy.
00:25:01
Savage Boston
The whole team's just four. Yeah. Fourth line guys is just like a bunch of schmucks. Like not, don't, you know, not really like, don't nobody, nobody quote this.
00:25:05
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:25:09
Savage Boston
and I mean, schmuck is in like, they're not their talent level. Generally on the team is nowhere near good enough.
00:25:16
Michael Hurley
Right.
00:25:17
Savage Boston
And maybe they're not done. Sure. And like you have Pasternak, like I know people are really disappointed by, um, that their first line center. Um, I forget his name. Elias. Oh, is it Lindstrom?
00:25:27
Michael Hurley
Oh, yeah.
00:25:27
Savage Boston
Um,
00:25:28
Michael Hurley
ah he was so invisible this year. It was pretty crazy.
00:25:32
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:25:33
Michael Hurley
And it was like that was their big move last year.
00:25:35
Savage Boston
So, listen, I don't know enough about hockey. Plenty. I don't know enough about it. I've watched a lot of college hockey in my day at at Northeastern, but i basically I don't know enough about pros and structuring teams. All I know they had a wildly successful team for a long time. No, they just had one championship, but they were still a very successful franchise with a lot of talent for a long time, and I hope they can find a way back to that.
00:26:01
Michael Hurley
I just, the Tanner Janot signing is like, it's last, remember they got Lucic back at the end of his career and obviously he got in some legal trouble and that ended quickly.
00:26:09
Savage Boston
Oh, yeah.
00:26:10
Michael Hurley
But like, Lucic still had something there.
00:26:10
Savage Boston
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:26:12
Michael Hurley
Like, I don't know. there This guy has scored an average outside. He had one explosion of 24 goals in 2021-22. I don't know what happened. But then he scored six goals, seven goals, seven goals. He's just, there's no offense there. It's just strictly physical. and It's like, that's your big signing. It reminds me,
00:26:30
Michael Hurley
I don't know. this is I'll stop because I could do Bruins stuff for a long time. But there was a year, call it 2016, the first day of free agency, the Bruins re-signed Kevin Miller, who's like a seventh defenseman who's only there to fight and occasionally lay a hit, but like is one of the worst hockey players in the league.
00:26:50
Michael Hurley
And it's like day one. It's like fine if you want to bring him back, it's like day one, we got him back. It's like they have this blind spot for tough people. That is so archaic that it's getting absolutely nowhere.
00:27:00
Savage Boston
Weird. Well, like you're you can have tough guys, but like they have to be able to do something on offense if they're playing, if they're forward, you know what i mean?
00:27:04
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:27:08
Michael Hurley
Right.
00:27:10
Savage Boston
Like,
00:27:10
Michael Hurley
Right.
00:27:11
Savage Boston
like You have to be able to contribute somehow in the offensive zone. You can't just have have goons. I mean, like I guess you can if you want the change of pace line, the goon line. like That's fine.
00:27:20
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:27:21
Savage Boston
um but But people are going for speed now, and you can't just have the big bad Bruins who beat people up because as we see with Florida, people look at Florida like, oh, they got some goons.
00:27:31
Michael Hurley
yeah
00:27:33
Savage Boston
like How much talent does Florida freaking have?
00:27:36
Michael Hurley
Right. Right.
00:27:37
Savage Boston
They're insane.
00:27:37
Michael Hurley
But that's like that's what you want is you want three elite lines and then you can have sprinkled in some guys that are just badasses. And the Bruins had A.J.
00:27:45
Savage Boston
yeah
00:27:46
Michael Hurley
Greer and then he ends up going to Florida this year and was like... it's It's one of those hockey things where it's like, do I have numbers or statistics to say A.J. Greer was significant in them winning? No.
00:27:57
Michael Hurley
But like you know when you watch that guys like that can change the game. But you have to be – that's like the last – that's like the cherry on top of your Sunday. And the Bruins are just like all cherries right now.
00:28:08
Savage Boston
Way too many cherries.
00:28:09
Michael Hurley
There's no Sunday, just all cherries.
00:28:11
Savage Boston
Yeah, no, you need some ice cream in there too.
00:28:13
Savage Boston
You can't just stick your face in a bunch of cherries.
00:28:13
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:28:13
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:28:16
Savage Boston
um But yeah, no.
00:28:17
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:28:18
Savage Boston
So I know i know a lot of Bruins guys and they're like insanely passionate fan base.
00:28:22
Savage Boston
Like I love the Bruins fan base. They're like probably the best fan base in town, honestly. Like they they live and die with the Bruins.
00:28:22
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:28:27
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:28:28
Savage Boston
They got a great presence and they really do care. But like, man, do they not like Don Sweeney?
00:28:34
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Do you know what you get?
00:28:35
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:28:35
Michael Hurley
And this is, this is an interesting thought I would say of the four Boston major Boston sports team.
00:28:37
Savage Boston
What?
00:28:40
Michael Hurley
I don't want to get you in any WNBA trouble. So just the four major, four major Boston sports teams.
00:28:43
Savage Boston
Oh yeah, please. Yeah. Male, male Boston sports team.
00:28:46
Michael Hurley
Uh, Yeah, I would say fans that are only fans of one team, you know, just I only care about the Bruins or i only care about Celtics.
00:28:56
Michael Hurley
The Bruins are like far and away in that number one spot, don't you think?
00:28:59
Savage Boston
Yeah. I just think the hockey fans are kind of like a different breed. Like they just, because it is the fourth in terms of like viewership.
00:29:03
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Yeah.
00:29:08
Michael Hurley
Right.
00:29:08
Savage Boston
Um,
00:29:08
Michael Hurley
Well, it's, it's an embarrassment of a league. Like it's, it's embarrassing to be a hockey fan when the draft is like remote zooms in 2025, for some reason, when the, when the NHL award show is like J list celebrities coming out and just, yeah.
00:29:23
Savage Boston
They're just fucking, they're Bush League, dude. It's a Bush League operation all around.
00:29:27
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Best sport in the world. Worst league.
00:29:30
Savage Boston
Like, it's easily the worst league. They have such a phenomenal playoff and they should be high. I'm glad they're back on ESPN to give them a little bit more juice, but like, they don't have a good operation.
00:29:37
Michael Hurley
Yeah. I'm watching the Stanley Cup final on TNT. It's like, come on, guys. like
00:29:43
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:29:43
Michael Hurley
You've got to have a little more juice than that, and they just don't.
00:29:45
Savage Boston
like Why can't they get advisors dead serious for this league? And I'm sure they've done this. Go get advisors from the NFL, which is the best league in America.
00:29:51
Michael Hurley
Right.
00:29:53
Savage Boston
go Go get advisors and say, like what do you guys do well? How do you guys organize your draft? How do you hype up this event? like Why is it we've barely heard of 10 guys in the NHL draft, but we got fucking, I don't know, three months of research on NFL football?
00:30:02
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:30:06
Michael Hurley
Right.
00:30:11
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:12
Savage Boston
its It's a different level.
00:30:14
Michael Hurley
Right. And it'll never be there, but it's like, it could just be not embarrassing. You know, if they could just get that.
00:30:18
Savage Boston
Yeah, like it could be not awkward, awkward silences when you draft your first draft pick and James Higgins and then have Don Sweeney and and Cam Neely in the camera cut out, which was.
00:30:29
Michael Hurley
Thanks for drafting me.
00:30:31
Savage Boston
Yeah, that was that was excellent. was great. i mean, I'm all down for some good humor, like no doubt. Love that.
00:30:36
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:30:37
Savage Boston
ah But not a great look for the lead.
00:30:37
Michael Hurley
It's. Yeah. And by the way, what I meant, it wasn't that all Bruins fans only like the Bruins, but I just think there's more people who are exclusively Bruins fans than any other. like There's plenty of Bruins Patriots fans, probably like ah plenty of Bruins Red Sox fans.
00:30:52
Michael Hurley
Bruins Celtics is maybe tougher. I don't know. But ah there's there's there's more just people that love the Bruins and their whole basement is all Bruins stuff.
00:30:54
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:31:00
Savage Boston
Yeah. I mean, they do have a hardcore following and and obviously original six franchise. It's appreciated. um Pivot now to just the C's, just to touch on like, when are, when are people going to get mad at the new owner?
Celtics' Roster and CBA Implications
00:31:17
Savage Boston
Right, like dead serious question because I was not mad for a while. i was like, all right, this makes sense. Get rid of Drew. Get rid of Prazingis. And then I'm starting to realize like, oh wait, like that's actually going to not be that good of a roster next year.
00:31:29
Michael Hurley
Yeah, I get it.
00:31:29
Savage Boston
And.
00:31:32
Michael Hurley
i just do think when the bill was literally half a billion dollars for the roster, like they had to adjust.
00:31:38
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:31:38
Michael Hurley
And I think they would have done that even if Tatum wasn't hurt, which maybe would answer your question. Like people would be up in arms. Like, what are you doing? Like, let's let's go win the championship.
00:31:45
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:31:47
Michael Hurley
I do think the fact that Tatum is hurt and everyone's kind of mentally punting on next year probably avoids any scrutiny.
00:31:54
Savage Boston
Yeah. yeah It makes me more angry though that um just like how they've done the CBA is is awful.
00:32:02
Michael Hurley
Yeah, it's like too late. It's like you missed when when the whole 2010s were Warriors Cavs every year. like
00:32:09
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:32:09
Michael Hurley
You needed to fix it quickly. Now it's like you're kind of screwing everyone.
00:32:13
Savage Boston
They fixed it too hard. They went too harsh somehow. And you had like, yeah, a a few elite teams, which by the way, the league was actually doing really well at that time.
00:32:22
Michael Hurley
Yeah, I liked watching the finals.
00:32:22
Savage Boston
and
00:32:23
Michael Hurley
I wasn't complaining about it.
00:32:25
Savage Boston
Well, you had juggernauts, you know, Braun versus Steph Curry and and, you know, like Durant goes to gold. and like And people got mad at the super team thing. If your team wasn't included as part of the super teams, you got mad.
00:32:36
Savage Boston
But now, like, you're literally punishing people from drafting and developing young talent.
00:32:42
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:32:42
Savage Boston
You're punishing them. And then their salaries get bloated and then you can't – it basically is a hard cap.
00:32:43
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:32:47
Michael Hurley
Yeah. and I mean, did you see that ASGA got what? 71 million a year?
00:32:51
Savage Boston
$70 million a year or whatever, –
00:32:53
Michael Hurley
It's not like
00:32:53
Savage Boston
How many years did they get before that team's blown up?
00:32:56
Michael Hurley
Yeah, it's just, I mean, it's it's it's unfathomable. And it's just like, Connor McDavid is the best hockey player I've ever seen. He makes like $12 million dollars a year. Like Walker Bueller makes 10 more million dollars than him.
00:33:06
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:33:08
Michael Hurley
So it's like, I don't know. The the money is the money is a a product of the revenue, but it's almost like, I don't know, maybe I'm too naive, but it just feels like it could be.
00:33:21
Michael Hurley
it could be better, like to it's it's it's so far gone and they're trying to like cap it, but it's it's out of their control, I think.
00:33:29
Savage Boston
I don't know. I don't, I honestly, I know we need someone in here who like studies the cap because wow. how is So SGA is going to get 70 million. That's, I mean, what's the luxury tax, like 170 million or something like for, for a franchise.
00:33:40
Michael Hurley
Yeah. I get, i get, I, of all the salary caps, I don't understand. Every time I read something about it, it goes right out with the, with the aprons and everything. It's just.
00:33:49
Savage Boston
There's like, you know, there's the cap, there's luxury tax and there's the first apron. Then there's the second a second apron.
00:33:54
Michael Hurley
So, uh, the salary cap for 25, 26 set 154.6 million. so that's half your cap.
00:34:02
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:34:03
Michael Hurley
ah the tax level
00:34:06
Savage Boston
So you're telling me that that player is going to get, let's do it.
00:34:06
Michael Hurley
then it's
00:34:11
Savage Boston
Let's give them a little benefit out. 40% of your salary cap.
00:34:16
Michael Hurley
Right. And then the.
00:34:16
Savage Boston
You know, football, the quarterback might get, if you're making 50 mil and their cap's like 270 or something like that.
00:34:23
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Yeah. But even that's out of whack, too. I forget who proposed it.
00:34:27
Savage Boston
Yeah. Yeah.
00:34:28
Michael Hurley
I forget everything. That's kind of the theme. Someone proposed that quarterbacks just don't count toward the cap. And it's like I couldn't agree with that more. Like the quarterback should be its own box and you got to pay that guy whatever because he's the franchise.
00:34:37
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:34:42
Michael Hurley
And then you manage the rest of the roster.
00:34:45
Savage Boston
Yeah. Yeah. I mean,
00:34:46
Michael Hurley
or Or even if you don't, you could just say the highest paid player is exempt from the cap.
00:34:51
Savage Boston
I just don't think you should punish teams for drafting. Well, which is what this does.
00:34:54
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:34:54
Savage Boston
And then you're going have these goofy, goofy salaries continuing and, and they limit them to like four or five years too. So it's like the super max.
00:35:02
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:35:03
Savage Boston
So you can't even give a guy 10 years and then, have that become an underpayment at some point, you know what i mean, as the cap goes up.
00:35:12
Michael Hurley
Well, like what's crazy too, this is not the biggest news in the world, but I saw this one on the bottom line or whatever.
00:35:12
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:35:18
Michael Hurley
That was a 90s reference, I guess. James Harden signing a two-year $80 million dollars contract. I'm like, does the NBA know you don't have to pay James Harden $40 million? dollars like you just don't You can just go along with your life without doing that and you'll be fine.
00:35:27
Savage Boston
yeah
00:35:30
Michael Hurley
like You'll be totally fine.
00:35:32
Savage Boston
You're does he not sign a deal for like 10 million bucks? And just like, let me give a shot for a championship.
00:35:35
Michael Hurley
yeah
00:35:36
Savage Boston
Like who's like, is agency the really great or the league's really stupid? Like you should have some of these aging great, like a LeBron just opts into a $52 million dollars contract.
00:35:48
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:35:48
Savage Boston
And he's like, yeah, might leave. It's like, wait, you just opted in?
00:35:50
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:35:52
Savage Boston
Like, you're destroying multiple franchises somehow simultaneously. Like, and he's going to demand a trade and then Luke is there.
00:35:58
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:36:00
Savage Boston
Like, so I don't know. I don't like the state of it. And I know maybe you have to listen ah listen to some Bill Simmons to get the nitty gritty NBA talk. But like, i don't I don't like how it's run.
00:36:11
Savage Boston
i much, i appreciate baseball even just having, I think their cap is simpler. um Even though that's, that's a good
00:36:18
Michael Hurley
Well, like the the great and the bad thing about baseball is like you actually have to work really hard for a long time to make any money, you know?
00:36:25
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:36:25
Michael Hurley
So when it's finally time, it's kind of like hard to get too torn up about it because a guy had worked six years to get there, you know?
00:36:32
Savage Boston
Yeah. Basketball days pay you in an instant. They pay bad players get paid a time. Like, I don't, to be honest, love Luke Cornett. Why is he getting like $11 million dollars a year?
00:36:41
Michael Hurley
I know. It's crazy. I mean, the guys, the the big men, the Celtics both signed.
00:36:43
Savage Boston
Why is he getting that?
00:36:47
Michael Hurley
They've averaged like combined nine minutes a game, and it's like they're getting real money. So I don't know.
00:36:54
Savage Boston
don't know. It's so good.
00:36:54
Michael Hurley
It's just that the key is to have tall children and just put a ball in their hands and pray.
00:36:55
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:37:01
Savage Boston
You know what? My younger son is pretty tall.
00:37:03
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Yeah.
00:37:03
Savage Boston
Um, but you know, little goofy at the little goofy right now. So let's hope that athletic ability kind of kicks in. Uh, and then maybe we'll see, we'll see where it goes.
00:37:13
Michael Hurley
Yeah, it'll round out. Don't worry. We got you got time.
00:37:16
Savage Boston
Yeah, I got time. You know, the, uh, yeah, we'll, we'll see. I'm not, not, don't have my hopes up too high, but,
Red Sox Management Critique
00:37:22
Savage Boston
um, all right, man. Well, I appreciate it coming on. I'll keep the time, keep the time tight. Again, we could probably try to, I'm sure we could go on for a while.
00:37:28
Savage Boston
So, um,
00:37:28
Michael Hurley
Yeah. but ah Well, what's the i don't know, we should we should do a little Red Sox, right?
00:37:33
Savage Boston
Oh yeah, true. So, um, you know what I want to say about the Red Sox just quick before I ask it, like, I, I know like, um, the Craig Bresla stuff, I just don't like him as a guy right now.
00:37:44
Savage Boston
And I don't know if it's just that he's expressing himself poorly.
00:37:44
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:37:46
Savage Boston
Uh, he looks like to me, he's, he's truly like a robot in a person suit.
00:37:51
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:37:51
Savage Boston
Like I can't, just because you think you're smart and you think you're supposed to speak a certain way, like there are alternative ways to talk to humans and specific academic intelligence does not, is not the same as emotional intelligence.
00:38:04
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:38:10
Savage Boston
And it's just pissing me off. So don't know. you feeling about Presley?
00:38:14
Michael Hurley
Well, and maybe this is kind of well unprofessional of me, but at the moment I'm not a professional, so I have the freedom to do it.
00:38:20
Savage Boston
yeah
00:38:22
Michael Hurley
It's just the anyone that smiles while speaking plainly about things has clearly been told, like, you freak people out. You need to smile more and they don't know how to use it. Like Mark Zuckerberg.
00:38:34
Michael Hurley
Mark Zuckerberg is probably a good example where it's like you don't know how to communicate in a way that makes people comfortable.
00:38:36
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:38:40
Michael Hurley
Smile more. And so they'll just be telling you, like, I need to go to the bathroom with like a full ear to ear grin. And it's like, you're freaking me out even more now. So even, you know, that I don't know how much of the Netflix series you watched. I ended up watching all of it. I'm pretty sure.
00:38:54
Savage Boston
yeah
00:38:55
Michael Hurley
There was the season, you know, he was in down in spring training, talking to the full team, like the season opening meeting. And he's talking and like, i'm I used to be in the dugout. I used to be in the bullpen. I'm one of you guys.
00:39:07
Michael Hurley
And the whole time, one camera just kept catching Kenley Jansen, just eye rolling, just deep breathing, being like, how long is this little man going to talk to us? Because I've had enough. And it's just like, I wonder how many players felt that way and feel that way about him because he just lacks that human contact that you were talking about.
00:39:24
Savage Boston
Yeah. I mean, honestly, it's like, um it's a respect thing, right? It's like, show me, show me, don't tell me, you know, and, and behavior is a language or whatever quips you want to use.
00:39:30
Michael Hurley
yeah
00:39:33
Savage Boston
But I think how you speak and treat other human beings, like just cause you tell them I'm one of you, um you know, I, I appreciate you. I respect you.
00:39:44
Savage Boston
And then you go and do a bunch of behaviors that don't show that.
00:39:48
Michael Hurley
right
00:39:48
Savage Boston
Well, behavior is a language. And the players are listening and they're aware. And I guarantee you, there's probably not a ton of guys in that locker room that really like Craig Bresla.
00:39:58
Michael Hurley
Yeah. And it's, there's some things in history, like remember when the the last dance documentary was out and it was COVID. So it's like everyone was locked in and it was, yeah, it was, it was the best thing we had going for us.
00:40:05
Savage Boston
Yeah. every Yeah, I watched the whole thing.
00:40:09
Michael Hurley
And the thing that stuck out to me, and this is related to the Patriots too, because everything is related to the Patriots. is that that last season, like, yeah, you know, we got together. Michael wanted out. Phil wanted out.
00:40:21
Michael Hurley
We got together. We said, we can bring it back for one more year, and then it's all going blow up.
00:40:25
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:40:26
Michael Hurley
And you watch and you're like, why? like why Why didn't you agree to do it more than one? Why didn't you agree to go as long as you could?
00:40:32
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:40:32
Michael Hurley
And I feel like the end of the Patriots was the same way, where it's like, Brady will like, yeah, in the end, I had to go. And Bill will like, in the end, he did what was best for him. and it's like, why was it best for him to leave? like Do you people not see this?
00:40:43
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:40:43
Michael Hurley
And I think in that sense, what I'm getting at is for as much as everyone freaked out about the Devers trade, I think that's only going to look worse as history goes on. Because 10 years from now, people are like, why do they trade Devers?
00:40:54
Michael Hurley
Because the general manager didn't know how to talk to people and just ruined a relationship for no reason and shipped them out like hastily.
00:40:54
Savage Boston
yeah
00:41:02
Michael Hurley
that that will never That is only going to look worse as time goes on.
00:41:06
Savage Boston
I it's just the concept that like you, you like Rafi Devers, they didn't like his contract, apparently.
00:41:12
Michael Hurley
yeah Right.
00:41:12
Savage Boston
His contract for a DH, right? What's he getting overpaid by 5 million? I mean, like the guy still is a great, fantastic hitter.
00:41:16
Michael Hurley
Mm-hmm.
00:41:19
Savage Boston
And you basically, you can't keep trading away great players and you can't keep trading away fan favorite players.
00:41:26
Michael Hurley
right
00:41:30
Savage Boston
And yeah, if you want to take a dip in PR and get a new fan favorite, sure, that's that's fine sometimes. But this is now a habit. where you've got guys who aren't getting paid. And if it's someone like Bogarts, they were right.
00:41:43
Savage Boston
They were right to not sign Bogarts. He's been terrible. So i appreciate that. But Devers is not Bogarts and he's under control for the next eight and a half seasons.
00:41:52
Michael Hurley
Mm-hmm.
00:41:53
Savage Boston
So truly from a baseball perspective, it makes zero sense at all. And someone that could have just raked at Fenway for the next eight and a half years.
00:42:03
Michael Hurley
Right.
00:42:03
Savage Boston
So
00:42:03
Michael Hurley
Yeah. It's, it's idiotic. And, and the thing is too, that like, I don't want to let Cora off the hook because that was one of the weirder things.
00:42:09
Savage Boston
I
00:42:10
Michael Hurley
And again, it's reporting. It's he said, she said, but there was that report that Breslow talked to Devers about going to first after the Casas injury, because they didn't want to potentially ruin the Cora Devers relationship.
00:42:25
Michael Hurley
And it's like, why do you have a good Cora Devers relationship if you don't use it? You know, it was like what,
00:42:31
Savage Boston
i think that was a lie too. i think it was all a lie.
00:42:33
Michael Hurley
Okay.
00:42:34
Savage Boston
and i don't know.
00:42:34
Michael Hurley
Maybe. But it's just if if Cora, like who would Devers listen to more, Cora Breslau? Like obviously Cora.
00:42:41
Savage Boston
Yeah, or a yeah.
00:42:42
Michael Hurley
so but and And again, like Devers isn't clean in this, but I just think if you trade every selfish a-hole baseball player, you won't have any players left on your baseball team. That's kind of like part and parcel for this for the sport.
00:42:53
Savage Boston
Well, as I know you are aware, Manny Ramirez was on the Red Sox for many years.
00:42:59
Michael Hurley
Huh. Yeah.
00:42:59
Savage Boston
Manny Ramirez fucking raked.
00:43:02
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:43:03
Savage Boston
It could smash the baseball and a ah ah and did it every single year. He also was like fighting coaches and like pushing people and going in the dugout in the middle of game and rolling on the field.
00:43:15
Savage Boston
And we just all were like, literally the phrase Manny being Manny, which I'm sure there are young people that don't actually know that and remember just because we're in our whatever, late 30s or whatever, you know.
00:43:15
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:43:25
Savage Boston
But Manny being Manny was phrase and everyone like joked around that the dude mashed the baseball. It didn't matter. you you you You sealed it over until you got rid of him in like 2008 or whatever it was.
00:43:25
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:43:35
Michael Hurley
Right. You got almost a decade out of them, which is impressive. This was.
00:43:39
Savage Boston
And you won two World Series with him.
00:43:41
Michael Hurley
Yeah. And this was nowhere near that level. It was just an oversensitive, selfish player, which, again, applies to a ton of Major League Baseball players like just you can't just trade everyone that ah has a tendency to be selfish and like and what i don't understand.
00:43:49
Savage Boston
lot. Yeah.
00:44:00
Michael Hurley
What I'll never understand is why they weren't like, hey, you're an employee. Here's a glove. You're at first base tonight. You know, like I don't understand why it never came to that, because at a certain point. He's an employee and they they lost that instead of doing that, they traded him.
00:44:11
Savage Boston
yeah
00:44:15
Michael Hurley
It's it's it's going to be it's just bizarre. It'll always be bizarre.
00:44:18
Savage Boston
So I think ultimately they everything boiled in life boils down to communication. And ah you know this was ah quite obviously a communication breakdown.
00:44:24
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:44:30
Savage Boston
And you had a player that didn't want to do a lot of extracurricular stuff. And it rubbed ownership the wrong way. John Henry rolls down. Again, we're we're talking about like the same human over again.
00:44:40
Savage Boston
You got Breslow being an awkward, unemotional person.
00:44:42
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:44:44
Savage Boston
Then like, yeah, let's send in John Henry to fucking smooth it over. Because he's so good with his like emotional intelligence and small skills and soft skills.
00:44:52
Michael Hurley
That's a good point. Like, let's send them out on a plane to Kansas City.
00:44:54
Savage Boston
yeah Let's bring in the ringer, call in the righty, private jet, fucking John Henry. like, hey, Rafi, love for you to do a little first base.
00:45:00
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:45:03
Savage Boston
That's my John Henry.
00:45:04
Michael Hurley
That's pretty good.
00:45:04
Savage Boston
um And yeah.
00:45:05
Michael Hurley
Yeah, but that's a great point. like Why not send like Theo, who's probably actually smart and actually relatable?
00:45:10
Savage Boston
yeah Yeah.
00:45:11
Michael Hurley
like that's ah That's something Theo might have, you know if he were in charge of the baseball team, could have handled better than both of those guys.
00:45:17
Savage Boston
yeah I'll give them one point is they did try to send in David Ortiz and they thought David would help and he ignored or David Ortiz. That's the one thing they obviously they did try, but clearly no one got to him.
00:45:25
Michael Hurley
Right. Right.
00:45:30
Savage Boston
They, that organization though, from just a general outside perspective, I think has absolutely no idea what they're doing at any point.
00:45:36
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:45:37
Savage Boston
They have no vision. They don't know where they're going. They don't know they're signing injured one-year pitchers. they Yeah, they they were really confident with crocheting. Great. You pick the guy with the best stuff in Major League Baseball, and you're like, we should sign him.
00:45:51
Savage Boston
Good job, guys. And they traded for him.
00:45:52
Michael Hurley
Yeah.
00:45:52
Savage Boston
That was a good trade. Excellent. Everyone could have seen that. But Narvaez was a good deal. But ultimately, i don't see the direction. They're just praying the young kids develop.
00:46:03
Savage Boston
That's it.
00:46:03
Michael Hurley
yeah
00:46:04
Savage Boston
And sign him for cheap money, like Christian Campbell.
00:46:06
Michael Hurley
in the in there's still not like a pitching pipeline coming. So it's they're still going to have to spend somewhere.
00:46:10
Savage Boston
No one.
00:46:12
Michael Hurley
But yeah, it's ah It's it's kind of I'm just the Devers thing that still like that I want to put on him because it's like he's still maybe it was worse than we know is what I'm trying to get at.
00:46:28
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:46:28
Michael Hurley
Because remember, he sort of the spring training in 2024 and was like, you know, they got to go and get guys.
00:46:32
Michael Hurley
We need more people. We need we need more.
00:46:34
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:46:34
Michael Hurley
And then in that Netflix documentary, Breslow called a meeting with him. and Cora and he was like, do you want to do in English or Spanish? he's like, oh, we can do it in English. And then he's like, all right, well, you know, we heard what you want to say. Like, what? you And he was like, no no, you guys are doing great.
00:46:47
Michael Hurley
Like you guys do. It's like that's your opportunity to actually speak directly to him. So he is a little bit of a I don't know, weasel the way that he would, you know, trash management behind closed doors and then basically cower in face to face situations.
00:46:51
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:46:54
Savage Boston
yeah
00:47:00
Michael Hurley
But I don't know. It just seems like a situation that didn't have to end that way.
00:47:06
Savage Boston
There's just a certain amount of like, when you have a player that that's good at the plate in this era where it's hard to have a really good hitter, you got to find a way to keep the player, period.
00:47:15
Michael Hurley
yep
00:47:15
Savage Boston
I don't care how mad they are. I don't care how mad you are. Your ego's bruised. John Henry wasted ah the fuel on his private jet and he's mad. Whatever it it may be, you can't. can't just get rid of a guy because your ego is bruised.
00:47:28
Savage Boston
Like unless he's making it so untenable and they claimed it was, and it's just not how it felt. That was like, it did not feel truly untenable at that point.
00:47:34
Michael Hurley
Right.
00:47:39
Savage Boston
It did it didn't feel that way.
00:47:39
Michael Hurley
Yeah. Yeah. And if it is, then like throw him on the DL, like you can do, you have so many other options as in that, but Hey, counterpoint he's been asked since going to San Francisco.
00:47:44
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:47:50
Savage Boston
True.
00:47:50
Michael Hurley
So Red Sox won the trade, baby.
00:47:53
Savage Boston
Counter counterpoint. Why didn't they wait to the fucking trade deadline and get a lot more for him?
00:47:58
Michael Hurley
I know that's, that's the crate. Like they didn't want it to get out. It's like, who cares? You know, that's, that's,
00:48:02
Savage Boston
Makes no sense.
00:48:03
Michael Hurley
It's better to deal with some whispers and rumors for a few weeks and actually get someone that can help your baseball team than it is to just quietly do it so no one knows about that.
00:48:09
Savage Boston
Yeah.
00:48:13
Michael Hurley
Because guess what happens after you trade them? Everyone knew you were trying to trade them.
00:48:16
Savage Boston
Yeah, it's absolutely crazy. All right, man. Well, I'll wrap it up here. stay out don't Don't sign off yet, Mike. We'll make sure audio uploads.
00:48:21
Michael Hurley
Oh, yeah. You got it.
00:48:23
Savage Boston
And thanks, guys. Thanks for listening. We'll we'll be back next week. Peace.