TRANSCRIPT 🔗
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Language: en
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The NFL schedule drops tonight at 8:00
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PM Eastern, and the Packers already have
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two monster dates to circle. The Bears
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on Christmas Day, that'll be on Netflix,
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and Rams Packers in the NFL's first ever
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Thanksgiving Eve game. Plus, Green Bay
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claimed wide receiver Brendan Rice,
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David Jooku is off the board, and the
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league's grass field debate is getting
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louder with the World Cup coming. For
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all this and more, I'm JJ Lehey, and
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this is the Daily Cheese, your Green Bay
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Packers news update for the Packer
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Project. Let's start with the schedule
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because this is the big story of the
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day. The full NFL schedule comes out
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tonight at 8 Eastern, but we already
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have a few major Packers details.
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Packers Bears is reportedly set for
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Christmas Day on Netflix, which is a
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massive national stage rivalry game. And
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Green Bay will play the Rams at Sofi
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Stadium on Wednesday, November 25th in
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the NFL's first ever Thanksgiving Eve
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game. It's a very weird sentence to say.
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Packers football on a Wednesday, the day
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before Thanksgiving against the Rams in
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LA on Netflix. It is reportedly only the
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second Wednesday game in Packers
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franchise history. The other one came
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all the way back in 1938. The other
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important piece here is that the Packers
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do not have an international game this
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year. That matters. A holiday schedule
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is already weird enough. If you're
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trying to keep a playoff caliber team
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fresh, avoiding an overseas trip is a
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real win. The Christmas game is the
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ratings hook. Packers versus Bears
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always sells. Christmas Day makes it
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bigger. Met Netflix has been doing a
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decent job with these the last couple
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years, but the Rams game might be the
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better football game. That could be a
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major NFC playoff seating matchup, and
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the league clearly sees Jordan Love and
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the Packers as a team worth putting in
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standalone windows. So, the takeaway is
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simple. The Packers are back in the
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national TV spotlight as always. The
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league expects them to matter. What do
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you think about the holiday schedule? Do
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you like the Packers getting these big
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standalone games or are you already
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annoyed that one of them is on Netflix?
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Next up, the Packers claimed wide
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receiver Brendan Rice off waiverss from
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the Chargers. And yes, that is Jerry
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Rice's son. This is one of those moves
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where the name is probably the most
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interesting part, certainly more
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interesting than the resume. Rice was a
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seventh round pick. He did not have some
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dominant college career. And as a rookie
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in the NFL, he appeared in just three
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games and played around 100 total
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special team snaps. was basically the
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extent of his impact. So from a Packers
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perspective, this is a little weird, but
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it's not that complicated. They're
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taking a lowcost shot on a wide receiver
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with size, bloodline, and some special
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teams experience. That's it. He's not
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walking into Green Bay as a major roster
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threat. He's walking in as a camp
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competition piece with a famous last
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name and a chance to prove there is more
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there than what he showed with the
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Chargers or the Raiders. The most
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interesting part might be what this says
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about the bottom of the Packers receiver
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room. Green Bay continues poking around,
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churning the back end of the roster.
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They're still looking for competition,
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and honestly, that is what May is for.
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You take swings, you add traits, you see
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who looks different once the pads come
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Load full transcript
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on. Do you see Brendan Rice as a real
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sleeper, or is this just a famous last
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name attached to a May roster move? Let
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me know in the pack in the comments
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below.
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Also, the Packers are adding Sheldon
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Crony Jr. through the Bill Walsh
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Diversity Coaching Fellowship. Crony has
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been an assistant running back coach at
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Penn State, and he gives Green Bay
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another young offensive coach with a
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running back background in the building.
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It's not a huge headline, but it's the
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kind of thing good organizations do. The
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Packers talk constantly about
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development. Usually, we think about
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that with the players. Draft them, coach
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them, let them grow, give them time. But
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coaching development ma development
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matters, too. You want young coaches
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around your building. You want fresh
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ideas, guys learning your system, your
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culture, your process. For a team like
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Green Bay, that really fits. The Packers
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are not usually built on splashy outside
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additions. But the inside pipelines,
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player pipelines, personnel, coaching,
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that's what really matters. So Sheldon
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Crony Jr. is a feel-good story in a good
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organization. What do you think matters
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more for a team like Green Bay, player
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development or coaching development? or
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are those really just two sides of the
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same coin? Now, let's talk about David
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Jooku because he is officially off the
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market. And Jooku signed a one-year deal
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with the Chargers. And I know a lot of
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Packer fans had their eye on this one,
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yours truly included. The minute things
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became shaky with Cleveland, he became
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one of those names. Fans started
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connecting with Green Bay. And I get it.
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He's athletic, real receiving threat,
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and he's an established NFL tight end.
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It's easy to imagine that that kind of
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player with Jordan Love really might be
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one of the missing pieces in a shaky
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tight end room that doesn't have a lot
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of depth. It didn't seem like the
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Packers were showing a ton of interest
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in adding Injoku. They do have Tucker
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Craft. They added Luke Lache who we made
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uh mention of yesterday and obviously
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there's still the hapless Luke Musgrave
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for whatever he provides. Would Enjoku
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have been fun? Absolutely. Was he
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necessary? I think that one's a little
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bit up for debate. Uh, Injoku did come
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off of not the greatest year last year.
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So, he's looking for a bounceback season
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in 2026 with the Chargers, but a veteran
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name added into that room that does need
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a lot of depth would have made everybody
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feel better. Now, the Chargers, the one
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getting the splash. Justin Herbert gets
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another weapon. And Packer fans are
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going to have to keep figuring out
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whether Green Bay did enough at tight
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end. Where are you on this one? Did you
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want the Packers to make a real move at
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Enjoku? Do you want them to continue
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bringing in new pieces at tight end or
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do you actually feel okay with the guys
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that we have? When Tucker Craft comes
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back fully healthy, the room is going to
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be in really good shape. But behind
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Tucker Craft, who is still hurt, depth
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is pretty shaky.
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We're going to talk about uh Dwan
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Stribbling, the wide receiver drafted by
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the 49ers, a guy I really liked. It hits
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close to home with Brandon Cece. They're
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both second round picks and Dwan
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Stribbling drafted earlier. He was
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actually the 33rd player in the draft.
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So the first player in the second round
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signing his contract really matters
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because that second round, especially
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the
early picks, tend to set the tone
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for everybody else. Players don't want
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their agents signing deals for them out
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of order in the second round. The
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guaranteed money is really the hang-up
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here. We've talked about this a little
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bit, but you really want to have the
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guys ahead of you done first because if
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you get leaprogged by somebody drafted
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after you who gets more guaranteed
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money, it looks pretty bad for you.
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Brandon Cece still unsigned right now,
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but this is the first domino in that
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story and Cece's deal is going to get
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done eventually. second round deals.
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Really, this is the the typical process
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that they fall in. And the bigger issue,
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of course, being that guaranteed money.
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I tend to think that Cece is going to
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get all or most of his deal guaranteed
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just based on where he was drafted in
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the second round. It kind of points to
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that. So, nothing going on wrong with
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Cece's deal right now. It's just how it
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all happens every year. So, it'll get
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done. No reason to feel like there's any
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drama here. Now, over in Chicago Bears
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land, undrafted wide receiver Squirrel
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White retired after rookie mini camp.
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It's a bit unusual, but it does happen
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that the jump from college football to
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the NFL is not just about talent. It is
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physical, it's mental, and it's
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personal. Sometimes a player just gets
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to that level and decides this isn't
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what they signed up for. The Packers had
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something similar in 2021. The last time
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that a Packers player retired after camp
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for Green Bay, that was wide receiver
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Bailey Gaither. He retired during
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Packers training camp, then later
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unretired and played in the USFL with
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the Pittsburgh Mers. He did have
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offseason NFL stops with Baltimore and
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the
Giants. When a rookie retires early,
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it feels sad, but sometimes the story is
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not finished forever and guys do end up
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coming back. For now though, Squirrel
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White is done with the Bears. So, you
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know, probably dodged a bullet there for
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him. What would you do if you got signed
00:08:18.400 --> 00:08:20.070
by the Bears? I'd probably retire on the
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spot, too. Meanwhile, several NFL
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stadiums are reportedly switching to
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grass surfaces for the FIFA World Cup,
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and NFL players are basically asking the
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obvious question. If grass is good
00:08:31.280 --> 00:08:33.029
enough for the World Cup, why is it only
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temporary? Players have been pushing for
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natural grass for years. The argument is
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that it's better for their bodies and
00:08:38.240 --> 00:08:40.310
safer than artificial turf. And now with
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the World Cup games coming to NFL
00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:43.670
stadiums, some venues are suddenly able
00:08:43.680 --> 00:08:45.269
to put down grass when FIFA require
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requires it. That is where the
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frustration comes from. From a Packers
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perspective, this is where Green Bay
00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:53.269
gets to be the good guy. Lambo already
00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:55.110
has a natural surface. That's part of
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the identity of the place. Cold weather,
00:08:57.040 --> 00:08:59.829
grass, mud, real football. So Packers
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fans can sit back a little bit and say,
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"Hey, we already do it the right way."
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But leaguewide, this issue is not going
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away. If NFL stadiums can make grass
00:09:07.600 --> 00:09:09.269
work temporarily for international
00:09:09.279 --> 00:09:11.190
soccer, players are going to keep asking
00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:13.509
why owners refuse to make it work for
00:09:13.519 --> 00:09:16.070
NFL games. What do you think? Should
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every NFL stadium have grass, or do you
00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:19.670
think the turf debate is more
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complicated than players make it sound?
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Finally, the Broncos extended general
00:09:24.480 --> 00:09:27.590
manager George Patton through 2030.
00:09:27.600 --> 00:09:29.670
There is an NFC North angle here because
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the Vikings were reportedly pretty
00:09:31.920 --> 00:09:33.509
interested in Patton during their GM
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search. So Denver locking him up matters
00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:38.630
at least for the time being here as
00:09:38.640 --> 00:09:41.110
Minnesota's GM search really is getting
00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:43.430
serious. It is wide ranging. They're
00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:45.110
looking everywhere and Patton being
00:09:45.120 --> 00:09:47.430
locked down in in Denver closes one
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possible door that you know they were
00:09:48.959 --> 00:09:51.509
really interested in. The Vikings are
00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:53.030
always worth monitoring. They are trying
00:09:53.040 --> 00:09:55.910
to rebuild something sustainable around
00:09:55.920 --> 00:09:58.870
their coach and a pretty talented roster
00:09:58.880 --> 00:10:00.310
even if there are significant
00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:02.949
quarterback coaches. and Denver saying,
00:10:02.959 --> 00:10:04.470
"Nope, sorry. We're keeping our guy."
00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:06.470
Tells you that Patton is still viewed as
00:10:06.480 --> 00:10:10.230
a major part of what the AFC is doing
00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:12.150
for the time being. What do you think
00:10:12.160 --> 00:10:13.670
about the Vikings this year? Do you view
00:10:13.680 --> 00:10:15.350
them as any kind of serious threat? Are
00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:17.590
you only concerned about the Bears and
00:10:17.600 --> 00:10:20.310
Lions? Hey, for all your Packers news
00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:22.310
and analysis, stay tuned to the Packer
00:10:22.320 --> 00:10:24.470
Project and listen to Packers Derailed
00:10:24.480 --> 00:10:27.750
every Monday night at 7:15 Central time.
00:10:27.760 --> 00:10:30.389
For the Daily Cheese, I'm JJ Ley. Thank
00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:34.560
you for listening. Go pack