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What's up, beautiful people? Welcome in to CBS Sports HQ. I am Chris Williamson. He is the Joe Muso. And coming up, Monday's show. They're usually pretty chill and laid-back, but not this one with how the NFL kicked off the month as June as Monday marks 100 days away from the regular season. And we can't wait. And why wait? The news fast and furious. Massive moves both expected and unexpected on this Monday with Super Bowl favorites getting better in a flash. LA is all in as is evidenced by Monday's blockbuster that landed the Rams the reigning defensive player of the year and newly crowned single season sack king Miles Garrett. In return, Cleveland netting a 2027 first, a 2028 second, and a 2029 third,
as well as a young stud in his own right to defensive end Jared Verse. An unprecedented deal done in some ways is the reigning defensive player of the year and MVP joined forces in LA. Joining us now to assess this one from all angles, 12 years combined in the league, CBS NFL analysts Bryant McFaden and Damen Harris. I don't have to tell you fellas that it is just business, but Monday's news out of the out of LA, as as big as the business gets, just about. Mac, this is an already tuned up Rams pass rush from a couple years past, but they got even better by adding one of the best we've ever seen do it. How does this change the way you see the Rams?
I mean I felt like they were a championship contender yesterday before the news broke today and hearing the news now it's like yes if they can stay healthy it's almost like you don't want to say book yet because the National Football League there's so much parody involved in every game week after week where in days where you think you know what is going to happen you don't know but in terms of personnel and the most intriguing thing that I love with the Rams in terms of their championship like aspirations is the coach. The coaching starting with the head coach Shawn McVey. You look at Chris Schuler, the defensive coordinator. He has a good lock and good hold on the defensive
mindset. And now you bring in one of the best professional sackers in the National Football League. You have to like their chances even though they're playing in arguably the toughest division in the NFL and the NFC West. So, this was an issue for them. defensive uh concerns. A year ago, secondary play, they allowed nine 100yard receiving games, which was tied for per for second most in the National Football League. Well, they improved the personnel in the secondary, adding Trent McDuffy, Jaylen Watson. But then they did one more better and bringing in a guy like Miles Garrett that will make life difficult for every opposing quarterback they face. If their defense can live up to the building, we know
what they will do offensively. Like I said, if they stay healthy, you have to like their chances even more with the news happening with Miles Garrett becoming a Ram. You know, Joey, I love that BMAC said he don't want to book it, but he is one of those guys that like to say you better book it for next year. And I'm going to go ahead and say you better book the Los Angeles Rams to make it to the Super Bowl. I mean, I could be wrong. I could just be shouting out of my mouth and not know what I'm talking about. But when you look at what they can do offensively, and again, it starts with Shawn McVey. It does not start with Matthew Stafford. Matthew Stafford is
the catalyst, but the mad scientist is Shawn McVey. You look at the weapons that he has at his disposal outside, in the run game, at the tight end position. The offensive line protects well. Then you look at the defensive side of the football, and that's always been a question of concern for the Rams. Are they good enough defensively or do they just stop enough to where Matthew Stafford can go out and outscore the defense? That's not the problem anymore. You don't have to worry about that. You go get a guy in the secondary like Trent McDuffy, a Super Bowl caliber player who has Super Bowl type experience, who is one of the best quarterbacks in the
National Football League. You try to revamp the secondary and then I mean I'd be damned. You go and you get Miles Garrett. It don't get no better than that. You know what it reminds me of, gentlemen? Y'all remember back in the day whenever the Lakers tried to trade for Chris Paul and David Stern stepped in and said, "Man, hell no. Y'all can't y'all can't do this. This just ain't right." This is exactly what this feels like should have happened because now obviously business is business being done. You can trade with whoever you want. The Browns thought that this was best for their future. I don't I can't speak on that. But as the rest of the league as fans, you can sit here and say
how in the hell do you even let a team like this get a player like this at this time? I mean, it's almost unfair. But again, the Rams have put themselves in a position, whether it's what they do in terms of how they're constructing their team or how they handle their business on the field. They put themselves in a position to get all these prime time games. They've got prime time players. Now, again, like BMAC said, if they stay healthy, who's going to beat this team to win a Super Bowl? I can't name anybody right now.
Hey, Damian, real quick. You talked about that trade. That trade still hurts me to this day because Thursday night when that trade was vetoed and we were getting ready to play a Thursday night game in Pittsburgh and we got news that the Lakers got Chris Paul because I'm a Lakers fan and then later we found out it was vetoed. It felt like we lost Hollywood Florida zone big LA Lakers guy. We could address that again another time. back. I think it's interesting you bring up McVey though, Dame, because this is only a month removed from the head coach looking none too thrilled about the quarterback drafted. It was sort of the first move for the future, and this is a very right now transaction. The only critique maybe
you could throw at the Rams is, does it in a way ignore the future a month after drafting what we were led to believe is the quarterback of the future? It's a two-year clock on Stafford. Garrett's under contract till 2030. The Puka money needs to be figured out. Very much a topic of discussion. and the head coach was rumored to be interested in TV work just a few years back. Dame, how do you assess the long-term health of the franchise following this deal? You know, I think this is like if you're Barry Bond stepping up to the plate and you're one home run shy from breaking the all-time home run record, you're just swinging for the fences at this point. I feel like that's where the Los
Angeles Rams are. But I can't blame them. I see a lot of people on social media talking about, well, how is this going to affect the long-term image, I guess you will, of this team? Well, Shawn McVey, Matthew Stafford, they have the luxury of not worrying about that right now. They are trying to win right now. They've got the best version of Matthew Stafford in his entire career. They've got a puka naku who is playing outstanding football. They will find the money later. If I'm just guessing at what's going on with the LA Rams, all these young guys that they've gone out and drafted, all these young guys that they have developed, they're putting the
importance on paying those guys on the back burner because again, when you've got an MVP quarterback playing this well at the end of his career on the search and on the doorstep of another Super Bowl, I think that they're prioritizing knocking down the door and the opportunity that they have right now. What does that mean for Puka Nakua this offseason? That extension's probably not coming. What does that mean for some of those young defensive guys that they've drafted? That extension is probably not coming this off season. But again, I'll tell you something that fixes that problem though, Joey Muso. Winning. You go out and you win a Super Bowl. You go out and you win a ring. You figure all
that out later. And I think that's what Shawn McVey, I think that's what the leadership of this organization is banking on. We win now. We make everybody happy. We figure it out later. Yeah. For me, in terms of how this move will impact the Rams future-wise, I got to keep it a buck. Shouts out to Giannis, by the way. It doesn't. It won't. To Damian's point, they don't care nothing about them picks. Freak them picks. We don't like picks. Who cares? Because you can't argue with their method because they find ways to win and they do a great job in developing. Puka Naku was a fifth round pick. When you look at Kobe Turner and
Brian Young, these guys weren't first rounders. They weren't second rounders and they have developed to be major contributors to their defense. So, the way they do business in LA, it might be a bit confusing. You might not understand it, but for them, it works. And if you don't believe me, just go check the win loss record over the last few years. Go check the ring hands and see if you find any championship rings on either one of those hands from those individuals that were a part of that Super Bowl team. You will find one. and they're searching because I can remember over a month ago when the draft happened and they went and drafted Tai Simpson, everyone said, including
myself, what are they doing? They should be in WIN NOW MODE. WHAT ARE THEY DOING? They had a plan in place. They already knew what they were going to do before we saw the plan. We see the plan now. So you should never question about their mindset of being in win now mode and how will this impact their future plans because they will not as long as they have Shawn McVey less needed and those p tall palm trees out of LA they're going to be smiling from ear to ear because they will find ways to win. Could be another home Super Bowl for LA as it was in their last one. I find some irony in the fact that the first pick they make after all of that f them picks ideology was out there was Jared Verse who is now
headed to Cleveland in return in this deal. Mac I know you share a similar feeling about your fellow former null inverse. Cleveland's getting a hell of a player but by the time they're competitive he's going to be due a big deal. This move tells me that despite drafting three quarterbacks in the last two years they're again positioning themselves to go back to the well maybe next year. Mac, what does this deal do for Cleveland? Honestly, this deal, they got a massive hall in return for Miles Garrett, but for me, guys, this deal didn't make any sense. And the reason why I say that is because you already knew Miles Garrett was feeling some type of way about the team's plan
moving forward. And the reason why you knew that is because when Todd Monin became the head coach, he never met Miles Garrett face to face. He is the best player on the team. One would think they would get on a Zoom call or FaceTime call or something. Miles Garrett stayed clear away from Todd Mon. That's the first telling sign that there is smoke out there in the forest. Something is going on. So if you're the Cleveland Browns, why wouldn't you make it known? Listen, we're not trying to trade Miles Garrett, but for the right price, we'll pick up that phone call, especially before the NFL draft because we just saw the Ravens throw out two firstrounders for an injured Max Crosby who had season ending surgery. So, just
imagine what you potentially could have gotten for Miles Garrett if you made the other 31 teams in the National Football League aware that we're willing to listen to a call for the best professional sacker of our generation. Yeah. So that's the thing about what their what the plan is in Cleveland. I don't know because if you got a nice hall, Michael Parsons went for two first and Kenny Clark. Well, you just imagine what you could have gotten from Miles Garrett who just sacked the league record for sacks in a single season. So it's Cleveland being Cleveland. They got an abundance of picks. The great thing that we would like to applaud them for, they have really hit on the draft the last two
seasons, but now it's the maturation process that you got to witness and watch for with some of these younger players because you look at that first overall pick that they're going to be netting next year. Dame, I mean, what what is it best case scenario, the 25th overall pick, the 26th overall pick, more likely to be somewhere closer to 30 with the way we're talking about LA right now. How does this read for Cleveland in your eyes? I can't even echo what BMAC said. I couldn't say it word for word again if I wanted to because it was so accurate. It was so well said and just from the standpoint of if you knew that this was what you were going to do and you have and I say this tongue
and cheek but you have almost like a Victor Wimyama of an NFL talking about Miles Garrett with his size, with his strength, with his speed, with his ability to finish and bend on the quarterback. all of those things unlike at a size that we have never seen before. Why would you not put that out on the front page of the Cleveland Observer and say we going to listen to some calls and then just watch the other 31 teams in the National Football League fight and salivate and just send you offer sheet after offer sheet to the point of where you get to handpick. You get to say, "I don't like this. I'm going to put this over here because this looks kind of good. Let me sit on this for a second. Let me think about what I want to do with this
offer." and then another one comes, you separate them into piles, but instead you now I get it. You want to go out, you've hit on the draft the past couple years, so you want to go out and get those picks. I understand. But this is just more of a situation like BMAC said of Cleveland being Cleveland. Yes, they draft well. Yes, some of those guys get developed. But in totality, when you look at this organization and some of the decisions that have been made, Allah, the Deshun Watson contract, Allah, some of the other things, we were all up in arms confused about the draft selection between Dylan Gabriel and Shader Sanders. This organization gets they get too tight in that meeting room
when they sit down and try to make these decisions and then they outthink themselves. This wasn't hard. Just listen and set out there that you want to put Miles Garrett up on the trade block. You'll listen to offers you don't want to, but he wants to be gone. See what you get in return. Just to make a closed-d dooror deal like that without listening to what you could potentially get from 31 other teams. That just don't make sense to me. Past organizational failure has kept them where they are. We'll see if this is another step in the wrong direction. I know what I'm hearing right now is that my guys are ready for the NBA finals as well. I've got the basketball
references at 5. So, we're looking forward to some of that coming up throughout the hour as well. Ryan McFaden, Damen Harris, appreciate the insight as always, fellas. Taking a look at the most defensive player of the year awards knocking on the door of that record. And can he do it? Match Aaron Donald's three in that very uniform. Miles Garrett now a Los Angeles Ram. The reigning NFL defensive player of the year. Also won it back in 2023. A fivetime allpro and seventime pro bowler taking off the LA. Back on HQ where AJ Brown is back with his old coach. The worstkept secret in New England finally comes to fruition as Brown flies the coupe and lands out east. The Eagles made a game 2028 first and a fifth and 27 often at the center
of the argument. Brown look to call upon his inner excellence for the reigning AFC champs. Back with the fellas and Dame, we sort of saw this one coming. I'm interested in your point of view uh being one that knows the Patriot way. the mixture between these two sides. AJ Brown is well detailed, has been at the center of the conversation for good and bad reasons in Philadelphia. What's it going to look like in New England? Well, I think we're just going to see a different version of AJ Brown. I think we're going to see a refresh, a rejuvenated um an AJ Brown that looks like he's got fresher legs and an AJ Brown that has a point to prove. I mean, he's heard all
this slander from people in the media, from the fan bases in Philly. He's heard all of this. And one thing I will say, regardless of what we've seen in the past season and a half, AJ Brown is a damn good football player. And if you had the option to have him on your football team, you would want him and you would go get him, just like the New England Patriots did. And I think the fact that obviously the writing was on the wall, this is where he wanted to be, that's going to um obviously enhance the fact that he's going to be happy about the situation that he's in. But what I'm looking forward to obviously outside of the production on the field is what is his mentality going to look like? Is he
going to step in this locker room, the old AJ Brown, the alpha male, the early Philly AJ Brown that we saw after he just got traded from the Titans and Mike Verbel? Is that the AJ Brown that we're going to see? Or are we going to see the AJ Brown that still carries a little bit of that emotional baggage that we've seen over the past couple years? But again, when you look at what he's done, I mean, 2022, 15,500 yards, 2025, 1,000 yards. See, this is what I'm talking about. that emotional baggage. Does he carry that with him? Again, he's a great football player. If his mentality is right, he can be a leader and a spark in this locker room in terms of bringing everybody together. But
again, this guy's been through a lot. So, you have to take into consideration what his mental psyche will be like whenever he steps in the building. Hey, Damian, he's going to be ready to go. Highly motivated. A change of scenery often times is the best thing for athletes. We saw a change of scenery when he left Tennessee. Now, as an individual, he was very, very successful while in Tennessee. But when he left Tennessee and he went to a better situation in terms of the offensive structure, we saw him excel. And when he excelled, guess what? Jaylen Hurst became a better quarterback as well. Now, I don't know
what the friction was internally, but clearly there was enough friction that made AJ Brown not as happy as we all thought he should be. When you talk about the financial compensation he was receiving, and when you talk about the success he had on the football field while winning a championship. Now, he goes to New England, he gives New England something they haven't had in their offense at the wide receiver position in quite some time. He's a wide receiver, but in terms of boxing, he's a heavyweight fighter. They had a lot of middleweight and lightweights. Now you got a heavyweight fighter that can go do damage against secondary play. A guy that can impose his will physically in
the secondary. And that's what he did while in Philly. They had a lightweight fighter in Smitty and they had a heavyweight fighter in AJ. And guess what? Most cornerbacks, we want who? We want that lightweight fighter. But when you play against AJ, you better buckle up the chin strap and make sure your mouthpiece is in because it's going to be a duel. And that's what he will provide for New England offensively. And if you're Drake May, I know Drake just came out Iceman, but you have to be extremely happy knowing that they just provided you a heavyweight fighter to your offense to throw passes to.
Yeah. I think it's interesting after they won the title a couple of years ago, sort of that unrequited hope that it would feel like something more. Didn't necessarily love the view from the mountaintop. I'm excited to see a remotivated, a re-engaged as you guys speak about AJ Brown there in New England. It also takes me back to something we've seen in the past cuz it used to be lightweights. No disrespect to the receiving cores that Tom was working with, but then when Randy came to town, the offense changed. Josh McDaniel still at the helm in New England. Dame, how do you think this changes the way they go about things offensively? And to what Mack just said,
what does it do for Drake May? Well, first of all, I mean, we talked about this during the break, Joe Moose. So, there's no better wide receiver for a deep ball from Drake May than AJ Brown. And there's no better wide receiver for a Drake May football or excuse me, and then there's no better receiver. Well, however you want to say it, they're a match made in heaven. Hell, I can't get the analogy. They're a match made in heaven. Dag on it. And what that's going to do is that's going to allow Josh McDaniels to go back into the archives from 2007, 2008, back, not just in those years when they had a guy by the name of Randy Moss, but also a guy by the name of Rob Gronowski that they used to line
up outside and let him abuse corners like Bryant McFaden whenever the Patriots used to go up against the Steelers in those AFC Championship. Yeah, I remember those. Okay, I remember those. That's what this allows Josh McDaniels to do. It allows him to go back in time, dust off those archives, relive the glory days because he's got a quarterback that can make those throws. Now he's got a big body heavyweight receiver that can go up and make those plays. And then if you're Drake May, all you got to do is put the football in the air. And on top of that, now if you're Drake May, you've got so much trust. You
already had a lot, but you got so much trust in Elliot Wolf and Mike Vrabel and Josh and the entire organization to add the pieces and to build around you to give you what you need because if you're a franchise quarterback in the National Football League and you touch the football on every play and the responsibility is on you, you need good players around you. So, in terms of being motivated, in terms of being rejuvenated, in terms of all the things that we're talking about with AJ Brown, let's think about Drake May picking himself up after losing the Super Bowl and then walking into the next season with a target like AJ Brown to throw to.
I mean, my goodness, life couldn't be better for me if I was Drake May at this point. Yeah, the end scene was not what May wanted, but it doesn't overshadow what was an MVP caliber season from Jake Drake May. And now you give him a piece like AJ Brown. It's exciting times in New England. Mac, I want you to look at this one through the Philadelphia lens because you can't tell me you get better by losing AJ Brown. Maybe it gets quieter, but I will sit here and say trust in Howie. He knows what he's doing. He's not going to get got in a transaction. They get a nice call back. The uh draft strategy may be indicative of the direction we were heading here.
What does this receiver room look like when you look at it? At least on paper, it's not as fearless as it was when AJ Brown was in the lineup because these guys, Devonte Smith, I think he is a wide receiver 1A now for sure, but he was 1B when AJ Brown was there and he lived up to the building. The other guys in Mai Lemon, he's a rookie, right? So, that's a wait andsee approach. When you look at Dantavian Wixs, remember his best receiving year receiving yards was his rookie campaign when he had almost just south of 600 yards. Hollywood Brown had he's had only one 1,000yard receiving season. And that's going back to what 2021. So all of those guys, are they AJ Brown? No. Can they give the
production that AJ Brown gave the Eagles? You would hope. Collectively, you would hope. But also remember this, four years in Philly, AJ Brown had at least 1,000 yards receiving every year. Four years in Philly, AJ Brown had 32 receiving touchdowns. And the thing about AJ Brown and how appealing he was to Philly and just the production he gave Philly, remember Jaylen Herz's rookie season, his first uh full uh year starting 2021. Remember what he gave? 3,100 yards, over 3,100 yards, 16 touchdowns, nine interceptions. They said, "We need to get more from our quarterback. So, let's go get a proven commodity in AJ Brown." Well, in four years throwing to AJ Brown, while AJ
Brown's in Philadelphia uniform, he averaged over 3,400 yards, 22 touchdowns per season. That's what he averaged. So, he improved the entire room. And now, it puts more pressure on Jaylen Herz. It puts more pressure on him. It puts more pressure on Devonte Smith because if there's any drop off in receiving production, passing production, and most importantly, winning ball games, we're going to go back to this moment. And especially if AJ goes to New England and excels, we will go back to this moment for sure. It's not the only added pressure, too, Mac. You bring up a great point there, but you got a new OC in his helmet again for the 10th consecutive season, ranging from college to the NFL. And you've also
lost one of the cornerstones of that franchise in Jeff Stoutland who really set the tempo for that offensive line in front of Jaylen Herz. Going to be a new offensive identity, but to your point, uh, more chips, more cards out in front of Herz to make this thing his. I do want to turn to some news outside of Philadelphia and New England coming out of the NFL. And maybe this was unexpected. It was one of those that makes you look at the clock, look at the calendar, say what year it is. Uh, the New York Football Giants coming back to terms with Odell Beckham. I don't know, fellas. Juju Smith Schustster also making his way to East Rutherford, Braxton Berios as well. This trio of moves, Dame, maybe it tells us
more about Malik Neighbors than it does of any of these three. How do you parse this news? Uh, well, Muso, if this was 2018, I would say this would be a hell of a wide receiver room, but it's not. It's 2025. I mean, listen, I love the feelood story about bringing Odell Beckham Jr. back. I love Ju Guu Smith Schustster finding a home and them trying to improve this wide receiver room for Jackson Dart under Harbaugh in his first year. But let's make no mistake, these guys, they have not proven in the past couple years to be difference makers. They haven't proven to be guys that you sign and you expect to elevate Jackson Dart's numbers similar to what we're talking about with
Jaylen Herz once the Eagles acquired AJ Brown. these guys right now based on what we've seen of them, at least from Ju Gu J Gu Juju Smith Miss Smith Schustster, we know Odell's been dealing with injuries. We haven't seen anything from Guju recently to say he's going to make this offense better. And with Odell, I'm assuming with as much time as he's played in this league, where he's at in his career, the amount of time he's taken off, I don't it's not jumping off to me that he's going to come out and have an immediate impact. Now, to your original question, Joe Muso, does this mean that there's concern around Malik Neighbors in this knee? Hell yeah.
Muso, have you seen the videos of him at these charity softball games? Have you seen like we've se we've all seen the same video clips? We've all seen we all have access to the same information. And I'm sorry if I'm highlighting on something that don't need to be talked about, but let's have an uncomfortable conversation. Malik Neighbors, he's not ready yet. And he don't look like he's going to be ready week one. So if you've got a young quarterback that you're trying to make the face of the franchise, you've got a new head coach, you've got to go out and get receivers. Now, obviously you go get a fan favorite and Odell, somebody who's going to bring a lot of energy back into that stadium.
I hope he can bring some numbers, some receiving yard or some touchdowns with it because if not, if him and Juju Smith Shuster don't produce at a level that's far beyond what they've produced at as of the past few years, this room, Jackson Dart, this team, this organization, they're still going to be in trouble on the offensive side of the football. Yeah, I remember we were sitting there saying it as we were watching. I think it was week 14 when they caught neighbors on the crutches still saying that's that's quite a ways out from the procedure to still be on the crutches. So, something going on there. We're obviously wishing for the best as that is one of the young talented stars that this league is waiting to come back. But
it is a comeback here for Odell Beckham going to get set for action for the first time since 2024. Damen Harris, Bryant McFaden. We are 100 days away from the real thing. And maybe you reach back like you're one three, pull a little history forward with you. Odell making his way back to East Rutherford. Jackson Dart and the Giants look to take their step forward.
