| | Monday, June 6, 2022 | Welcome to the Monday edition of the Pick Six newsletter! | Today is a sad day for me and that's because my understanding is that I'm no longer in the running to buy the Denver Broncos. It appears Walmart heir Rob Walton is going to purchase the team for $4.5 billion, which is $4,499,999,712 more than I bid. I didn't think my $288 bid would be enough to buy the team, but I thought it had a chance. The next time a team comes up for sale, I'm bidding at least $300. | Not only will we be talking about the potential sale of the Broncos today, but we'll also be taking a look at how one former NFL MVP is on the verge of becoming the first quarterback in NFL history to lose to all 32 teams. That's not exactly a record you want to be known for, but it soon could be happening to Matt Ryan. | As always, here's your weekly reminder to tell all your friends to sign up for the newsletter. All you have to do is click here and then share the link. Alright, let's get to the rundown. | 1. Today's show: NFC West win totals | | We've spent most of the past two weeks going over regular-season win totals on the podcast, and that theme will continue today with a run through the NFC West. Last year, it was viewed as the toughest division in football, but heading into the 2022 season, the division has lost some of its luster: Russell Wilson is gone, DeAndre Hopkins is suspended for six games, and the 49ers are going to have a new starting quarterback. | Those three things could lead to some struggles for the Seahawks, Cardinals and 49ers. | For today's episode of the pod, Jordan Dajani got together with Will Brinson, and the two guys spent roughly 30 minutes debating whether each team would go over or under their win total. Here's a look at how those predictions went: | Rams Over/Under: 10.5 Podcast Prediction: OVER | 49ers Over/Under: 10 Podcast Prediction: OVER | Cardinals Over/Under: 9 Podcast Prediction: UNDER | Seahawks Over/Under: 6 Podcast Prediction: UNDER | Although the 49ers are likely going to have a new starting QB in 2022, both guys think the they can still hit the over this season, "If Trey Lance can be just a little bit of an upgrade over Jimmy Garoppolo, then I think this team can be a legitimate Super Bowl contender," Dajani said. | As for Arizona, both guys think the Cardinals will come crashing back to earth this year after a 2021 season where they won 11 games and made the playoffs. "Kyler isn't going to have DeAndre Hopkins (due to suspension), and just look at those first six games where he's out," Dajani said. "I think they likely go 3-3, and I think it's possible they could even go 2-4." | For those of you wondering, the Cardinals' first six games of the season are against the Chiefs, Raiders (away), Rams, Panthers (away), Eagles and Seahawks (away). To be honest, it wouldn't be completely crazy to see the Cardinals start 0-3. The reason a slow start could kill this team is because the Cardinals have a history of fading down the stretch under Kliff Kingsbury. If you start slow and end slow, you're probably not going to make the playoffs. | | | 2. Walmart heir expected to purchase Broncos for $4.5 billion | For the first time since 1984, the Denver Broncos are going to have a new owner. According to Forbes, Rob Walton is likely going to purchase the team with a winning bid that's expected to come in at roughly $4.5 billion. Forbes did note that the winning bid hasn't yet been finalized, but it's expected to be announced as "early as this month." | | Here's what we know about the situation: | - Broncos' sale price would be the highest ever for an America sports team. With a price tag of $4.5 billion, the sale of the Broncos would smash the American record for most money ever paid for a sports team in the U.S. The record is currently held by the Nets, who sold for $2.35 billion in August 2019. The Broncos selling price would also double the price of the most expensive NFL team ever sold, which came in 2018 when David Tepper bought the Carolina Panthers for $2.275 billion.
- Walton will become the richest owner in the NFL. According to Forbes, Walton has a net worth of $59.6 billion, which makes him one of the 20 richest people in the WORLD. Once the purchase is finalized, not only would Walton instantly become the NFL's richest owner, but he'd have a higher net worth than the NFL's six richest owners COMBINED. Panthers owner David Tepper currently has the highest net worth in the NFL at $16.7 billion.
- One Walmart heir is already indirectly involved with NFL ownership. Rob Walton's cousin, Ann Walton Kroenke, is the husband of Rams owner Stan Kroenke. If you're wondering about the family tree there, Rob is the son of Walmart founder Sam Walton, who is Ann's uncle. Ann's father, Bud, was Sam's brother and a co-founder of Walmart.
| The 77-year-old Walton will be buying the team from the Pat Bowlen trust. Bowlen originally purchased the team back in 1984 for just $78 million. From 1984 until his death in 2019, Bowlen oversaw one of the most successful franchises in the NFL as the Broncos went to seven Super Bowls, winning three of them, under his watch. Bowlen died in 2019, and his trust has been running the organization ever since. After his death three years ago, there was constant speculation that the team would eventually be put up for sale, but that didn't officially happen until February of this year. | 3. Matt Ryan has a chance to become the first QB in NFL history to lose to all 32 teams | | There are 32 teams in the NFL, and over the course of league history, no quarterback has ever lost to all of them, but that's something that could change in 2022 thanks to Matt Ryan. | Since his rookie year in 2008, Ryan has lost to 29 of the league's 32 teams, and there's a chance that by the end of the 2022 season, he could become the first quarterback in NFL history to lose to all 32 teams. | Even if he doesn't hit the 32-team mark, Ryan could still set an NFL record in 2022. If he just loses to 31 different teams, he would become the first QB in league history to lose to that many teams. Although there have been seven quarterbacks who have lost to 30 teams, no QB has ever hit the 31-team mark. | Here's a look at the three teams Ryan has never lost to and when the Colts will play them this season: | - Jaguars (Week 2 and Week 6). The Colts will play at Jacksonville in Week 2, and although that seems like a guaranteed win for Indy, I think we can all agree that's not the case. If we learned one thing from last season, it's that there's no such thing as a guaranteed win for the Colts when they play in Jacksonville. The Colts have lost seven straight games on the road against the Jags dating back to 2015.
- Raiders (Week 10). If the Jags and Raiders both beat the Colts, Ryan would become the first QB to lose to 31 different teams.
- Falcons (Colts don't play Atlanta in regular season). Ryan could theoretically hit the 32-team mark this season, but things would have to get a little crazy. To lose to all 32 teams, Ryan would have to also lose a game to the Falcons, but that could only happen if they play each other in the Super Bowl since the two teams don't play each other in 2022. Although the idea of the Falcons getting to the Super Bowl seems far-fetched, most people thought the same thing about a Bengals' Super Bowl appearance in 2021, and we all know what happened there.
| If the Colts don't end up playing the Falcons in the Super Bowl, Ryan still won't have to wait long to face them and that's because the Colts are scheduled to play the Falcons during the 2023 regular season. | | 4. Best- and worst-case scenarios for rookie quarterbacks | When you take a quarterback in the NFL Draft, that can actually be a pretty high-risk pick, especially if they're taken in the first round. While some teams can luck out and get a QB like Joe Burrow (hello Bengals), disaster can also hit. Just ask the Raiders about that (hello JaMarcus Russell). | With that in mind, CBSSports.com draft guru Chris Trapasso decided to take a look at the best-case and worst-case scenarios for the top-four quarterbacks taken in this year's draft. | KENNY PICKETT (Steelers) Best-case scenario: 64% completion, 7.4 yards per attempt, 3,330 passing yards, 22 TD passes, 11 INTs, 32 sacks, 92.3 rating Worst-case scenario: 58% completion, 6.6 yards per attempt, 2,970 passing yards, 14 TD passes, 13 INTs, 41 sacks, 72.2 rating | DESMOND RIDDER (Falcons) Best-case scenario: 62% completion, 7.0 yards per attempt, 3,185 passing yards, 18 TD passes, 8 INTs, 37 sacks, 87.8 rating Worst-case scenario: 57% completion, 6.3 yards per attempt, 2,866 passing yards, 10 TD passes, 16 INTs, 50 sacks, 67.52 rating | MALIK WILLIS (Titans) Best-case scenario: 61% completion, 7.0 yards per attempt, 2,352 passing yards, 15 TD passes, 9 INTs, 25 sacks, 85.81 rating Worst-case scenario: 54% completion, 6.2 yards per attempt. 2,083 passing yards, 8 TD passes, 14 INTs, 40 sacks, 63.3 rating | MATT CORRAL (Panthers) Best-case scenario: 61% completion, 6.8 yards per attempt, 2,224 passing yards, 14 TD passes, 8 INTs, 20 sacks, 84.9 rating Worst-case scenario: 53% completion, 6.2 yards per attempt, 2,046 passing yards, 8 TD passes, 13 INTs, 33 sacks, 63.7 rating | One interesting thing about these numbers is that even in each quarterback's "best-case scenario," Trapasso doesn't really envision any of them having a breakout season. Although we've seen a quarterback win the offensive rookie of the year award in two of the past three years, it seems highly unlikely that we'll see that trend continue in 2022. | | 5. Ranking the best NFL quarterbacks by decade | | Once the calendar hits June, that basically means we're getting near the dead part of the NFL offseason. And when that happens, the only way to liven things up is to rank something, so our Bryan DeArdo decided to rank the best NFL quarterbacks from each decade. | This process is pretty simple: DeArdo took a look at every decade dating ALL THE WAY BACK TO 1920 and ranked the top quarterbacks from each era. Let's take a look at how he ranked the quarterbacks in two of those decades: | 2000s (2000-2009) Best QB: Peyton Manning Runner-up: Tom Brady Honorable mention: Drew Brees DeArdo's explanation: "In any other decade, Brady would have come away as the decade's best quarterback. During the 2000s, Brady won three Super Bowls, was a two-time Super Bowl MVP, league MVP in 2007 and was the NFL's passing leader twice and the NFL's leader in touchdown passes twice. He also quarterbacked the NFL's only undefeated team during the 16-game regular season era. To boot, Brady was 2-1 against Manning in postseason competition. Brady's argument is convincing, but Manning gets the nod largely due to how he raised the bar for how quarterbacks can dominate a game, not just with his brawn but with his brains." | 1980s (1980-1989) Best QB: Joe Montana Runner-up: Dan Marino Honorable mention: John Elway DeArdo's explanation: Often lost in the story of "Joe Cool" was his ability to overcome adversity. He won just three games during his first two seasons before leading the 49ers to the franchise's first title in 1981. By the end of the decade, he would have four rings. Marino, Elway and Montana started a combined six times in Super Bowls during the '80s. | | | 6. Rapid-fire roundup: Romeo Crennel retires after 50-year coaching career | It was a somewhat wild weekend in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything that happened, I went ahead and put together a roundup for you. | - Romeo Crennel retires. After 50 years of coaching, Crennel has decided to call it quits . The 74-year-old -- who turns 75 on June 18 -- entered coaching in 1970 with Western Kentucky before landing his first NFL job in 1981 with the Giants. Over the course of his career, he served as the head coach for both the Browns (2005-08) and Chiefs (2012). He was also an interim coach for the Texans in 2020 when he became the oldest person in NFL history to be the head coach in an NFL game.
- Deshaun Watson hit with another lawsuit. The Browns quarterback is now facing 24 civil lawsuits after a new one was filed Monday. The newest lawsuit includes some controversial comments made by Watson's lawyer, Rusty Hardin. During a radio interview Friday, Hardin insinuated that "happy endings" are common in massage therapy . The NFL was nearing the end of its Watson investigation, so it will be interesting to see if the two latest lawsuits, which were both filed over the past week, add to the league's investigative timeline.
- Aaron Rodgers expected to show up for mandatory minicamp: When the Packers kickoff mandatory minicamp on Tuesday, it appears Aaron Rodgers will be in attendance. According to NFL.com , Rodgers is already in Green Bay in anticipation of minicamp. Although Rodgers skipped the voluntary portion of the Packers' offseason, it's looking like he'll be in pads for the mandatory portion.
- Dalton Schultz to skip the rest of Cowboys OTAs. Apparently, Schultz is not happy about the way contract negotiations are currently going with the Cowboys. Since Schultz got hit with the franchise tag this year, he has until July 15 to work out a long-term deal, but if they don't reach a deal, then Schultz will have to play on the one-year contract that comes with the tag. The tight end is so irate about the state of negotiations that he's going to skip the rest of the team's OTAs. This definitely isn't a good thing for the Cowboys.
- D'Ernest Johnson signs one-year deal with Browns. Johnson made some headlines last year when he rushed for 146 yards in a Thursday night win over the Broncos. The Browns like his ability and feel he has strong upside, which is one reason why he was given a one-year deal over the weekend that's worth up to $2.4 million.
- Brent Musburger out as radio voice of the Raiders. The venerable broadcaster has been the Raiders' play-by-play guy on radio since they moved to Las Vegas, but that will be changing for 2022. Musburger announced on Twitter over the weekend that he won't be returning for the upcoming season.
- Former Oilers and Jets OL Bob Talamini dies at 83. During the heyday of the AFL, there weren't many players who found more success than Talamini. As an offensive guard for the Oilers from 1960 to 1967, Talamini was a starter in three different AFL title games (1960-62) with the Oilers winning two of those. Talamini made the jump to the NFL in 1968, and although he only played one season, it was a successful one: He was the starting left guard for the Jets team that upset the Colts in Super Bowl III.
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