The annual April fools’ ruse that is the Baltimore Ravens’ pre-draft luncheon – aka “The Liars’ Luncheon” – provided a few insights into Mark Andrews and no surprises on the roster needs. But, once again, the Justin Tucker scandal they’d love to make “go away” is still kicking on draft weekend. Luke Jones and Nestor go through the lies and truths of the gathering of selected media for a league-mandated buffet of comedy and eras. And delicious ravioli.
Nestor Aparicio and Luke Jones discussed the Baltimore Ravens’ pre-NFL Draft Liars Luncheon, highlighting the team’s cautious statements about Mark Andrews’ future. Eric DeCosta mentioned Andrews’ warrior spirit but noted his contract status. Luke Jones speculated on the team’s potential draft strategy, including the possibility of trading Andrews for draft picks. They also addressed the ongoing investigation into Justin Tucker’s behavior, suggesting the team might draft a kicker as a precaution. Nestor criticized the team’s handling of scandals and their selective media engagement, emphasizing the need for accountability and transparency.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Baltimore Ravens, NFL Draft, Liars Luncheon, Mark Andrews, Justin Tucker, Eric DeCosta, John Harbaugh, Isaiah Likely, Tight End, Kicker, Investigation, Media Relations, Team Strategy, Fan Reaction, Super Bowl.
SPEAKERS
Luke Jones, Nestor Aparicio
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
8
Welcome home. We are W, N, S T. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive. We are taking the Maryland crab cake Tour presented by the Maryland lottery, conjunction with our friends at curio wellness as well as Raskin global and all of our sponsors put us out on the road. We’re going to be at Beaumont on Thursday with a really special show over in Catonsville. Big appreciation to Tom Quirk for coming over and hanging out as well and talking some democracy with me, as well as Baltimore County Council issues. Next Wednesday, we’re going to be back in Baltimore County. We’re going to be at Coopers north up in Timonium. Mays chapel, got some great guests going to be talking about LLS and all the things they do. Burger the month up there for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. My my friend the Schultz family, Ron Schultz, Nick Schultz, Kurtis Schultz, everybody remembers Curtis Schultz will be joining us at Cooper’s North also. The 30th will be a Cocos pub. I am wearing my Cocos pub shirt. My wife and I were going to go over and have the burger of the night on Tuesday night, but we we bonked out with all the wind. But I love you. Marcella will get over there in a couple of weeks, and Luke Jones is here. He he had a pretty good lunch on when they say there are no free lunches, they’ve never met Jerry Coleman, but there, but you were there on Tuesday for the liars luncheon. What do they call? It the pre draft media what? What is they
Luke Jones 01:20
call it the pre draft press conference and luncheon is the official term. They don’t even call media
Nestor Aparicio 01:26
anymore, since they threw me out and I named the damn thing. So do tell about the ravioli and the steak and all the things that they took good care of you out there with Larry Frank and the classic catering people.
Luke Jones 01:36
It was a very nice lunch. I will say that I don’t think fans care to hear about that as much as what was said, but it’s the liar’s lunch, and it wasn’t. You know, if you’re going into it expecting these earth shattering revelations, then you haven’t paid close attention to the liar’s luncheon over the years, but at the same time, as you know, if I think back over the years, I don’t think there was nearly I don’t know if there’s ever that much true, truly blatant lying. I think they just speak in such generalities, and they’re very careful with what they say, and they’re just not saying a
8Nestor Aparicio 02:12
whole lot. I promise you, Eric lied to me when he told me he was going to draft martech. Oh, it’s happened.
Luke Jones 02:16
It’s it’s absolutely happened, don’t get me wrong. But,
Nestor Aparicio 02:20
and I know they lied to Peter King when they told they were going to draft Chad Henny, right? No. I mean, I’m just, you know, I don’t know the ones off the top of my head. I guess my point has just been straight out, like, deceptive. And you know, that really changed in the when Billick left, right? You know, literally it when that era ended. John, so parent, I mean, John’s, you know, we’ll do a whole segment one day on John’s honor. But, but, you know, the world changed. The internet changed all, all that happened Twitter, all that happened on John’s watch in eight, 910, 11, and then it slipped down the map. You know, I have videos of of Eric da Costa coming out with Brian Billick in 2009 and 10 with you when you first came here and sitting in really openly discussing a lot of this stuff. Now, it’s all for ravens.com it’s all to be asked by insiders. You know, it’s employees talking to employees about football. So it’s very, very measured. I mean, it’s not hard knocks of 2001
Luke Jones 03:19
8No, it’s not. And at the same time, it’s one of those few instances where I understand that are not going to come out and talk about the draft prospects that they really, really like. I mean, if they’re going to do anything, they’re going to speak in generalities, or there might be a little bit of deflecting going on, as you mentioned, still does happen. I’m not sure there was really anything I take away from Tuesday’s session that I would say, oh, that’s, yeah, that that’s, you know what? I think they’re just very careful, measured. I mean, I think the biggest takeaway, and this isn’t a draft prospect, but it certainly could impact how they approach this draft, is we heard John Harbaugh at the owners meetings a couple weeks ago, basically say quote he that he fully expected Mark Andrews to be on the 2025 Ravens. Eric Acosta did not speak in those terms. I mean, his quote was, I never know what’s going to happen, and I would never want to say this or that, but I can tell you this, Mark Andrews is a warrior, and he’s played his butt off for us. Then he went on to talk about his his attributes, but he finished by saying, you just the same thing he’s saying to the Giants when he’s trying to change. Sure, sure. Sorry. And let me be clear. I saw some some people, everyone’s trying to read the tea leaves. The fans have seen enough of these pre draft press conferences, these liars luncheons to try to interpret. I don’t think that means that Mark Andrews is definitively gone either by any stretch of the imagination. I think Eric is truly saying I don’t really know what’s going to happen here. Look, we paid, paid Marcus $4 million bonus earlier this off season. On the one hand, that should make him a little. More attractive to teams that if they’re only having to pay him $7 million as opposed to $11 million on the flip side, we’ve paid him $4 million and you know, unless you know, my understanding is that happened. I mean, sometimes you’ll see a bonus delayed because they’re a player is in limbo a little bit. But, you know, I don’t, I don’t know that to be true, so, but, but if it is a case that he’s only owed $7 million if you’re the ravens, you’re saying, well, our asking price for him has gone up a little bit because we paid him $4 million and he’s more attractive for other teams financially. So I think Eric is saying this. I think if the unfiltered version of what he said on Tuesday is, look, we really like Mark Andrews. He’s been a great player for us for a long time, but he’s in the final year of his contract. He’s entering his age 30 season. We have Isaiah likely, who’s also going into a contract year, and is four and a half years younger. You know, all things being equal, we’d rather extend Him, if we can only extend one. So we’re not just going to give Mark away, because he’s still important to our success, regardless of what happened in Buffalo last January. But if another team out there can’t land the Penn State tight end or the Michigan tight end, you know, we’re talking about the kind of top heavy guy, what’s his
Nestor Aparicio 06:17
value? Dude? Let’s let you know. Let’s get let’s get to the bottom
Luke Jones 06:21
line. It’s hard for me to say that. I mean, I, you know, I
Nestor Aparicio 06:24
what this value to the Ravens? You know? Why would they want to keep him versus, obviously, Isaiah likely gets hurt, obviously,
8Luke Jones 06:31
want to pick, yeah. I mean, that. I think the value to the Ravens is obvious. I mean, you look at what he’s been and I would also say there’s also the element of, how’s your quarterback going to feel about if you’re trading Mark Andrews. So that’s where you know, if some teams offering a six round pick, it’s like, what’s the point? Well, that
Nestor Aparicio 06:48
would be my that’s where I am with Eric, because I always get into his head and say, All right, it’s not a first rounder, right? Did you agree it’s not a second rounder? No. Okay. All right, so now we’re into Friday night, pick 83 or pick 91 or pick 104, whatever. Pick your pick, right? That, the way they’re going to look at it is, Tampa Bay wants him now, and they’re going to give us pick whatever. 100 make it an even number, right? And say, Alright, so what player are we getting there? What are we taking away from this year’s team? What are we adding to this year’s team? Maybe that’s our outside linebacker that we like. Maybe that’s a defensive line piece. Maybe that’s an offensive line piece, but it’s going to be a human being. I don’t would they trade mark Andrews for Roger Rosengarten right now? I don’t know. I mean that there’s a great example of something they would look at and say, is that interesting? That’s a second round pick, something at least that good. Why are why would they just give Mark Andrews away?
Luke Jones 07:49
Well, I think you have to look at it through the lens of, okay, what is his value in 2025 what is his value if you let him walk next off season? So you’re thinking about it in terms of, regardless of what his trade value might be today, we would both agree that, assuming he has a healthy representative year, even if it’s not, you know, not the mark Andrews of 2021 but is still a productive player, he’s going to fetch a pretty good contract and free agency next off season, and then he’s going to get them so then, so Then you look at what a fourth round comp pick would be, which, keep in mind that would be the 2027 draft you’re talking about. So to me, you’re looking at it through the lens of, can you get that value? However you you would be getting that pick two years earlier. You know, would you do it for a fourth round pick? I think it depends where in the fourth round, if it’s used to
Nestor Aparicio 08:43
8talk Steve Bucha D saying all this, by the way, because this is the way they talk about that’s how you have to literally. This is how bashati looks at it. But I would
Luke Jones 08:50
also say even, even with that line of thinking, don’t discredit what value Mark Andrews can bring you Being on your team in 2025 one criticism, you know that I’ve had of them at times is, I think, especially in this Lamar Jackson era, where you had, especially when Lamar was still on his rookie contract, that one reason I didn’t love the Orlando round trade, not because the value wasn’t good. I think the value was perfectly fine, what they ended up getting, but you didn’t have the player for that season, and that happened to be a season where Ronnie Stanley was not healthy, and you had Alejandro Villanueva playing left tackle when he wasn’t even good enough to be a right tackle anymore, and it was just a disaster. So, you know, obviously this is a different scenario where you have, likely, you have Charlie Kohler, who, I think you know, has been their number three tight end. I think they’d be okay with him being their number two tight end. And look, you might draft a tight end then, I mean, I asked Eric Acosta, you know, as far as the ravens, regardless of what happens with Andrews here over the next week, or two weeks, let’s say, because I don’t know, you know, you get out of the draft. Left, then I’m starting to wonder, okay, if you’re going to trade them, then what are you getting, you know, unless you’re trading for a position player at another, you know, at another spot, or something creative like that. But I think when you look at this tight end group, there’s gonna be a lot of turnover here. Andrews, pending free agent Isaiah, likely pending free agent Charlie Kohler, pending free agent Patrick Ricard is on a one year deal. So you’re talking about your entire tight end group. Your entire tight end room could be hypothetically different next year. Now, if they do move, and whether they trade them or whether they just let them walk, I fully expect them to do everything they can to re sign Isaiah, likely, I think, I think you have to under that scenario, but until they have it done, you’re still asking the question. So that’s where I said, you know, Eric, even if it would create a roster crunch in 2025 do you have to look at taking a tight end because that entire room hypothetically could be gone next year. And I think, and let me be clear, I don’t think that means that the ravens are going to draft Tyler Warren or or Colson Loveland from Michigan, but I think you do have to look at possibly adding a tight end in the middle rounds, and then what does that do? It’s it’s not impossible to carry four tight ends on your roster. Let me be clear about that, especially if the guy coming in can contribute on some special teams and things like that. I mean that it’s not unheard of. They’ve they’ve had four tight ends on their roster before, but that’s the kind of thing you’re thinking about right now when you have a position group where everyone’s on an expiring deal. So I think they have a lot to think about right there. And again, if it plays out where Mark Andrews is just on the team in 2025 You’re not upset about that. I mean, why would you be? And I know people were still ticked about January, and I hear all that, but you’re still talking about someone who’s the all time leader in touchdown receptions for this franchise, even if, even if that means he starts to be phased out a little bit more, and likely his role increases a little bit more in 2025 you’d still like to have them, because, as part of Eric’s answer to my question about the tight end position, he said, Look, if there’s a player that is at that spot and is overwhelmingly the highest player on our board, as far as available players, then we kind of have to take them, because you never know. And he cited 2021 when they lost Dobbins, Gus, Edwards and Justice Hill, all within what nine days, I think it was, they lost all those guys for the season. So you never really know what’s going to happen on that front. So, you know, even, even tight end, which is one of those positions that, at face value, there’s no nothing to be concerned about as it pertains to 2025 I mean, it’s a very deep, very good group, but the draft is not just about 2025 the draft is about setting up your roster as well as you can for the next 234, years. So with those 11 picks, even if Andrew stays put, would I be shocked if they’re taking a tight end and, you know, sometime day three, no, not at all, because of just how that lays out. So but I did, I did find it interesting that, you know, har ball was as direct as he was two weeks ago, as in terms of his stating a belief that Andrew would be here. And we didn’t hear that from Eric decosto on Tuesday. But that said, I don’t think that necessarily means that Andrews is definitely going to be dealt. I just think it means that they genuinely have an open mind that if some team that’s maybe trying to draft Ty Warren or trying to draft Loveland or some of the other tight ends that you know, maybe that second tier of tight ends in this draft class, if they whiff on that guy, or, heaven forbid, maybe their tight end gets hurt during off season training program, which, which has started for a lot of teams at this point. You know, then it’s a different conversation that you’re having. So,
Nestor Aparicio 13:48
you know, the races should be understated how important the position is to Lamar. Oh, no question that. And that’s where I mean, it’s a different position in this offense than even what DeAndre Hopkins is going to do, especially when you have the beast in the backfield that I once said, they’ll win the Super Bowl with him. So we’ll, we’ll see if that holds up this you got one more year for me to wear my Derrick every jersey. But, you know, I’m the world’s biggest Derek Henry fan for everything we saw this year. Still That being said, you know, tight end was supposed to catch the ball, to put them in the, you know, into the next round that didn’t, yeah, they went to the tight end in the plays that Andrews dropped the ball, that we remember the tight end was, was gonna fix it for them, was gonna finish it for them,
Luke Jones 14:31
yeah? And he dropped the ball, so he used
8Nestor Aparicio 14:33
to finish it for Tom Brady. Name a wide receiver or a running back, that was a finisher for Tom Brady. This is Gronkowski. That’s it, right? I mean, finisher, you know? I mean, when you need to, you need to win a battle Travis Kelsey, you win a battle having tight ends that matter. So if they feel that way about likely, you know what I mean, if they feel like he’s going to be a pro bowl elite kind of, you know, that sort of thing. Or if Lamar feels that way about him, or monkey feels that. Way about him. I’m fascinated to see them march on without him. I saw he’s got a commercial. Couldn’t make it to the podium in Buffalo, but he’s got a he’s got a military commercial. I I don’t, I just need to, because there has to be some comedy in the show. Otherwise I cry. I mean, it’s just amazing. Well, the interesting like, look, I could talk about him not coming to the podium. You could talk about $4 million we could talk about cat. But the bottom line is, do they want to play a season with him or without him? And what is he at this point? And what is he the other teams? Because if all he is in other teams, 100 and 14th picking the draft to your point, we’ll play with him. We’ve already paid him. We you know, we like him. All the things that they’ve said that John said two weeks ago, you know, they can fall back and bring him back, but is he going to catch the ball with the game on the line in Buffalo next time? I don’t know. I don’t know. And that’s the
Luke Jones 15:53
thing, and that’s what’s frustrating about this team, right? I mean, it’s so funny this time of year, because obviously you go through free agency, and now we’re talking about the draft, and you’ll hear people talk in terms of, do the Ravens need this to get themselves over the hump, or do the Ravens need that to get themselves over the hump? And they’ve had Super Bowl caliber rosters in recent years. I mean, you can’t have the regular season success that they’ve had when Lamar has been upright and healthy and and point to this or that, oh, not having this certain position being better has been their downfall. I They need their stars to play, to perform in those moments. And this is where it’s ironic, because you mentioned Isaiah likely and kind of weighing, you know, what would what would it mean if Andrews is back, you know? And I said, you know, does Andrews see his role decrease a little bit and likely gets ratcheted up a little bit more in a very ironic way? There’s certainly some irony with the fact that Nestor, who caught the touchdown right before Mark Andrews dropped the two point conversion, Isaiah likely made a really nice sliding catch in the end zone. I mean, great. You know, great play from from Lamar and likely, but likely was the one who, if Andrews catches the two point conversion, which was not some highlight catch that he had to make, and the Ravens win in overtime, let’s say the Super Bowl. We’re talking about that Lamar to likely, I’m not saying it’s quite Flacco to Jacoby Jones, but it’s, it’s still somewhere in in that space, in terms of a really clutch, massive play with a minute and a half to go in a game that you trailed by eight. So, so there you go. I mean, as much as we’re kind of debating where Mark Andrews fits now, where he fits in terms of trade value, what he would be for another team, you know, this year, next year, beyond, you know, all those different things. You know, with likely, I mean, you have a guy who set career highs and catches receiving yards and touchdown receptions. I mean, he’s, he’s an ascending player, and like I said, He’s four and a half years younger than Andrews, so that doesn’t mean he’s necessarily going to become a first team all Pro, but I think we saw when Andrews hurt his ankle in November of 23 go look at what likely his numbers were down the stretch. I mean, he he was very Mark Andrews asked in terms of the production,
Nestor Aparicio 18:16
but it also didn’t diminish the offense as a sure as a body, right? Right? And that’s for Todd Monken to decide, right? And Lamar, you know, and say, Is this what we want, or do we want something else? And for the roster, if it means them getting a cornerback in the third round that they like, I mean, again, it’s going to be for a player, right? Like, you know, it’s Eric’s going to say, I want that player now, instead of the fourth round pick in 2027 because we know he has a job for life. A lot of GMs Don’t think like that in 26 other places, right? Yeah, so around here, because the owners in the pie, and everybody’s a chosen son and a nephew to him that this place operates differently, and they think about it differently, and I would say for the liar’s lunch. And getting back to that, by the way, Luke Jones is here Baltimore, Luke, you can find us both out at Baltimore positive and at am 1570 if you’re out on the podcast and out on YouTube or anywhere else that you get what we do. The notion that the liars luncheon produced this moment for you, which was Eric still dangling, that’s a message to the other teams as they see it in their twist, because everybody watches everybody else’s press conferences, right? Because, I mean, that’s the way hardball thinks about it. But they, they’ve, they, they’ve left the door open and all of that. But otherwise, this is a, this is a lot we haven’t mentioned. Justin Tucker in 30 minutes. You and I’ve been talking about it. Did that come up? It did? It did?
Luke Jones 19:41
8I mean, look, I think everyone knew there wasn’t, you know, the NFL investigation. They’ve leaned on that, for better, for worse, however you feel about it, they’ve leaned on that. As I said to you, that’s the playbook, right? I mean, I mean it is, at the same time, you also have to recognize that this is your last. It’s truly great opportunity to come away with a replacement for Justin Tucker, right, whether you’re talking about, you know, whether it means a fifth round pick, a sixth round pick, whatever it might be. You look at the top kickers in this draft, which you know, I’m not going to sit here and say that I am intimately familiar with 10 different kickers, but Ryan Fitzgerald, from Florida State, is regarded by many as as the best kicker in this draft. My point is even if the NFL investigation drags on another month, two months, whatever, whatever the hypothetical scenario is with that, or maybe it conveniently finishes on Saturday of the draft, when they draft their replacement. Yeah, that would be kind of a cozy way to put a bow on that, this whole saga. But the point is, can you afford to not draft a kicker, or at the very least not sign a high priority undrafted kicker like Justin Tucker was 13 years ago, you know, at a time where they weren’t convinced that they were replacing Billy Cundiff, but they certainly had it on its mind that it was a possibility after what had happened in Foxboro the previous January. So I think that’s where, to me, day three of the draft is going to be very telling about where the Ravens stand with Justin Tucker. Right now, if you use a fifth round pick on a kicker, that doesn’t mean necessarily that they’re cutting Justin Tucker that same day, but I think that tells you what the expectation is. Because this this team say what you want about you know, whether they whiff on a certain pick, or whether they value late round picks too much, or any of that kind of stuff. This isn’t, this isn’t a team that’s in the business of just throwing away a draft pick that, if they have every intention of keeping Justin Tucker, they’re probably not drafting a kicker then, right? Or, or they’re not putting that kind of a priority on it. How many kickers will be drafted in your two for me, it’s usually not much more than two or three, right? Okay? So most so in their
Nestor Aparicio 21:57
minds, because they think, and John hates to be called a special teams coach. I like to call him one, but Randy Brown, they are maniacal about finding this next kicker, and they will have no problem pulling a trigger on a fourth round draft pick to get a kicker if they believe in a kicker. I mean, if they’re ready to make a move here. They should be ready to make a move
Luke Jones 22:23
if they truly think, like if the guy they’re drafting, if they have the conviction that they think that guy’s going to be the next Justin Tucker, which they don’t
Nestor Aparicio 22:31
want to get the second best kickers. What I’m saying, whoever their guy is, even if their guy’s the second best kicker in the Texans, take the wrong guy or whatever, like I’m I’m just saying, right? But
8Luke Jones 22:41
that’s where you but that’s where you also need to be measured, and that’s where Eric, and it’s something to his credit, like, for example, the ravens, when they drafted Lamar Jackson, they had an idea that he was going to be there at the end of the first round, right? I mean, they drafted Hayden Hurst before Lamar, yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 22:57
I was gonna say the whole thing is bizarre to me, that if they love Lamar so much they wouldn’t have taken him at 27 like, that’s just a CR, you know? I Yeah.
Luke Jones 23:05
And look, is there always some luck and there is there always some unknown that’s going to happen? No question about it. However, part of the draft is not just evaluating the players and ranking the players the way that you feel they should be ranked. Eric’s talked about this part of the draft is also trying to anticipate, trying to research, trying to talk to others around the league, to try to figure out where you think other guy, where you think other teams are evaluating players. So that’s where you go into it. And you say, and I’ll throw another kicker name out there, because I’ve seen some people mention Ben saws from Pitt kicked it the the place formerly known as Heinz Field, which we know is a very difficult place to kick. The other ravens might love him because he, you know, he’s been a he’s had a good college career. He’s kicked in a very difficult outdoor stadium, although, you know, fully acknowledging he’s not playing games at Pitt in December and January, like the Steelers play there. But maybe that’s your guy. Now, yeah, if you really were so hell bent, so determined, so obsessed with making sure you got your guy, could you hypothetically spend a fourth round pick,
Nestor Aparicio 24:21
8I suppose. I mean, Sebastian Janikowski, well,
Luke Jones 24:25
the Ravens used a fourth round pick on Jordan stout a couple years ago. Remember when they had 6/4 round picks? Or however, if, if you don’t think he’s that kind of guy, if you think that he’s got really high upside, but he’s raw, and that tamps down his draft value. Maybe you feel you can get them in the sixth round. You know the Ravens right now. If you look at their draft capital, they have a they have four six round picks right now and now. That’s not to say that you wait for that 212th overall, but maybe you use 183 on them. Maybe you use your very first. Six round pick on a kicker so and again, I’m speaking in hypotheticals here. It ultimately comes down to how you evaluate these guys, where you think other teams rank these guys, and you’ve got to take some calculated risks. You’ve you’ve got to be measured about it, right? You I mean the worst thing, and you mentioned Sebastian Janikowski. Look, Janikowski had a really good career. Did that ever justify him being a first round pick? Of course, not, because no kicker is worth a first round pick. But, you know, I mean, at the same time, if it’s someone that you feel can be every bit as good as what Justin Tucker is at this point in his career on the field then and obviously, as the upside of being a decade plus younger and all of that, then, by all means, take them. And, you know, don’t wait to the seventh round if you’re afraid you’re not going to get them. You know, use maybe it’s the fifth round pick that you have, you know, so but, but I think for the ravens, even if you are behind closed doors trying to keep as open mind as possible about Tucker, you’d really love to not be have to part ways with them. You’re wondering, you know, maybe you’ve gotten some inkling of what the investigation is going to you know, I don’t know, right? I mean, again, I’m spitballing here
Nestor Aparicio 26:19
at the same time. Every time you say investigation, I just have to laugh. I’m laughing out loud. I
Luke Jones 26:24
Nestor. I get it, but I’m not. I’m not saying it has the utmost integrity when the NFL is investigating, but it’s something that’s going on right
8Nestor Aparicio 26:33
now. But Julie sharper, how about that? Sure I I’m not. I think she did investigating.
Luke Jones 26:37
I don’t disagree, but I’m I’m trying to present the whole picture of how the ravens are viewing this thing, but understanding that there’s, at best, some major unknown as far as might what might be uncovered by the League, whether it makes Tucker look better, worse or the same. At the same time, you don’t want to be in a position where you say we’re good. We don’t need to draft a kicker, you know? We’ll, maybe we’ll bring in some guy that kicked in the UFL this spring. But then more comes out about Tucker, and you get to the point where you say, we can’t do this. You don’t want to be in a position where you don’t have a replacement, right? You don’t you don’t want to be in a position where you’re picking up someone off the trash heap in the way that some fans wanted them to do last November when Justin Tucker was struggling to the degree that he was. You don’t want to be in that position. So that’s where I look at this thing. And say, I mean, how can you afford to not take a kicker this next weekend in the draft, or at the very least, someone that you’re given a nice, hefty bonus to as your top priority rookie free agent to come in and be at the very least, at the very least serious competition for your disgraced kicker right now. So or you draft someone and Justin Tucker’s cut two days later. I mean, you know that that scenario is entirely more than plausible, right? I mean, that that so, you know, but, but I think I said all along to you, when this all came out, if the Ravens weren’t going to move, move on from him, two days after the banner, original report came out, oh, and didn’t come, you know, didn’t release them after the subsequent, you know, victims came forward. Then to me, I pointed to the draft as kind of the next major, major checkpoint that the Ravens were going to try to let this play out, regardless of how you feel about the NFL investigating it, but the Ravens were going to do their homework to make sure that they got a replacement that they liked on the field before moving on. So I’m not saying that’s right. I’m not saying I agree with that. I’m not saying that people should be okay with that. I’m saying where it is right now. I mean, it’s, you know, it’s the reality, and perception is reality for a lot of people right now, in terms of not liking how the Ravens have handled this, and that’s completely okay. You know, I respect that opinion. But for me, if they come out of the weekend and there’s no kicker, then I really start to wonder maybe, Justin tuck maybe they are planning to keep them, you know, as you started suggesting that possible. He’s on
Nestor Aparicio 29:21
the team right now. You know what I mean? He’s on the team until he isn’t right. He hasn’t done anything that’s made them get rid of him yet, so including missing kicks, sure.
Luke Jones 29:30
8Well, and that was always the part of this that, to me, you draft someone, and even if you’re trying, if you’re trying to to at least present some semblance of giving him some due process and the benefit of the doubt, and go looking into this more and more, there was always the cover of saying, Look Justin. In addition to all of that, you weren’t very good last year. So. So we’ve got to move on. Yeah, Charlie Morton, the
Nestor Aparicio 30:02
Orioles are going to move on from him because he’s not good enough. It has nothing to do with anything and like, that’s, that’s a performance. We’re talking about. Mark Andrews, you dropped the ball with the season on the line. You walked out the side door and you got a commercial on a military commercial. It’s crazy, but you know, I would say, with the Tucker thing, this is where I get ishi on this, because I haven’t said much. I mean, I really haven’t, um, I still go back to being sitting in pizza Johns with Jen Marsh, and she hands me the phone, and I’m reading it, and you’re tweeting it, and Chris Pike is texting me, and friends are texting me, and I’m reading it, and by the time I got done reading it, I went to the bathroom, I came back and Tucker had already called the media scumbags, and I didn’t like that. And I really don’t like that, uh, especially when they have a liar’s luncheon that, you know, people like me get boxed out of. So when it comes to like blaming the media and playing that game. I don’t play that manure, you know. So like for him when the time comes that I really opine about it, my dear Justin Tucker, don’t let the door hit you on the ass on the way out. I’ve only spoken to in the framework of these 16 accusations, I’ve only spoken to two people connected. Two people connected, right? And obviously I’ve spoken to Julie sharper at length and and I know what I need to know. I know enough around town and enough people telling me for years I was not one of the people that heard the rumors and whatnot, but I know how they operate. I know how Eric the Costa operates. I have first hand experience with taking him information about players being drunk in the middle of my radio show on Monday night, so drunk that they had to be cut off, and how little concern they had for that human HR, getting him onto the field, whether he was getting hit over the head with bottles in Washington, DC in the middle of the night, with players cavorting early in the season to piss the coach off, to get the tackle bench. I mean, I remember all of this stuff, and I remember going to them and, you know, he’s really good kicker, as my wife said couple months ago. You know, after all, the scandal broke, he’s a really good kicker, and that’s kind of the way they operate, and I’ve seen it, so I can’t say that I am disappointed by it, as a guy who spent 30 years invested in this franchise and trying to shine a light on their better angels, while ignoring Ray Lewis and handcuffs, ignoring, you know, Ray Rice literally getting his wife to lie like all the owner running for me on the veranda, which you witnessed last year. So like, just in a general sense, the accountability and the arrogance that they have, and the accountability they lack, and the status that they’ve achieved to have a gated community with, you know, full security around them at all times, to ward them off from any, any of dust, you know, the smoke that comes From this. You know what? They’ve got this very measured, whatever they’re going to do, they were already going to do it. And Steve doesn’t care at all. Sashi doesn’t care. It’s not costing anybody their job. Didn’t cost anybody their job last time, except for Ray Rice. Um, even though they all lied, they were all in on it, in on the deed, knowing the crime, and they didn’t care. They care. So that’s why they don’t want me out there in the middle of a liar’s luncheon where Chad’s picked who’s going to ask the questions and hands out. Sashi Brown, doing, you know, after dinner drinks in Florida to speak to the media and stuff like that. Just the cowardice shows up. It’s evident for anyone looking for how the organization feels, behaves, works, sells. You know, you feel it. And the Tucker thing is, if they were done with Tucker, they would have said, We’re done with Tucker. They were done with him as a kicker. They could have been done with him if they were done with him as a human. They could have been done with him as a kicker, right? And they could just be a franchise they don’t have to play this week, as Ozzy says, right, like so they could get a kicker between now and Labor Day, if they didn’t want to be in business with Justin Tucker anymore, and the fact that they’ve gone Tammy Wynette, stand by your man. So, yeah, they’ve been standing by him so and God bless him, if they think he’s innocent, I know what he thought. He thought the media scumbags are out to get me, and that’s what I’m going to tell my fans. I’m going to sing it to my fans the royal pharmacy. People don’t want to hear it. They got the chicken getting out the limo. Now, you know, just Justin Tucker’s done his last psycho analysis on a couch for the chicken people. So, I mean, the chicken people have run from Him. I know enough that I wouldn’t have made him my spokesperson, and I told the royal farms people that, but they haven’t run from Him, dude, he’s still their kicker today, as you and I sit here, he’s their kicker, and they can, as potsy once said, Sit on it and they own it. If they wanted to get rid of him, they could. They could have blamed it on football, and they haven’t. Therefore, therefore, I’m not convinced they’re drafted a kicker. They might, if they don’t get the right kicker, Justin Tucker will be their kicker on Monday morning. And you know what, Luke, I’ll be outraged. I’ll be outraged, and I watch the games, and you’ll buy the tickets, and we’ll do go to the sit in the seats, and everybody will, you know, like, like, Ray Lewis went to the Hall of Fame after, you know, like so I and played a long career. Justin Tucker will kick field goals in this league. Steve Bucha knows that. John Harbaugh knows that Eric Costa knows that, you know that he will kick again in this league. They all do. So why not for me, you know? I mean, I guess that’s I’m talking to people in Cleveland all week. Add Mike reggae on and Bernie McKinney and munch Bishop. You know, Deshaun Watson still under contract, even though they brought Joe Flacco in like that, the league has no concerns, you know? I mean, I don’t know. I think they, they’re Teflon.
Luke Jones 36:38
I mean, you kind of just, you kind of just nailed it. Look, I’m not going to sit here and say that, you know that I have any comfort level with the Justin Tucker situation, or, you know, all the allegations that you know, 16 alleged victims and all that. But ultimately, if, you’re the ravens, you’ve got to live with the repercussions if you do keep him right. And the message that sends to the female percentage of your fan base that is, if it’s not 5050, it’s, you know, it’s at a very high level. I mean, the NFL has put out research about how much of their fan base is women compared to other sports, how
Nestor Aparicio 37:21
many people did their Ray Rice jerseys down there 10 years ago that are race coaching football mile from their campus? Man,
8Luke Jones 37:28
but, but you just, you know, but you just hit on it. What were the repercussions for how poorly, poorly they handled the Ray Rice scenario? What are the repercussions when Kevin
Nestor Aparicio 37:41
Byrne got a press box named after him up in the corner? But what are the repercussions when you see situations like this play out around the league? Dick Cass kept his job $2 million a year for a decade after that’s where I look at this. And
Luke Jones 37:58
I mean, in Cleveland, yeah, yes. Was there a very sizable portion of the fan base that was unhappy with the Deshaun Watson acquisition and how the Browns willingly took that on, not just willingly they gave the guy an unprecedented, historic, fully guaranteed contract. They traded away what three first round picks, whatever it
Nestor Aparicio 38:19
8was, they pissed off Steve Bucha doing it. But, yeah, they pit, I mean, they did a deal so bad that they pissed off all the other billionaires in the in the room yet.
Luke Jones 38:29
And look, Cleveland’s kind of a tough example, because we’ve certainly seen our share of games that, you know, we’ve been to our share of games there where it wasn’t a full stadium, but when Joe Flacco was taking them to the playoffs two years ago, seats were full. Stadium was full. I mean, heck, they’re getting a new stadium in the suburb in the burbs, right? I mean, there’s
Nestor Aparicio 38:50
an old proverb that shows up on my my timeline sometimes, and now that I’m saying it out loud, it’ll show up, but it’s a Japanese proverb about when you get on the subway and you realize you’re on the wrong train, get off as soon as possible, because the longer you stay on the train on the wrong road, the longer it’s going to take to get back right. And Cleveland last year had the opportunity to just wash their hands of Deshaun Watson in the way that we were 30 minutes into this right the Ravens can wash their hands of Mark Andrews dropping the ball and not showing up and just say, we’re done. They because we just don’t believe in anymore. They could drop they they could walk away from Justin Tucker at any point and say, you know, we could do better on the field. We could certainly do better off the field. And they could have walked from that in February, and they wouldn’t have to answer any more questions about it. But instead they’re Tammy wine adding this, and they stood by Ray Lewis to the point where art flew down Atlanta and stood with Ray in a courtroom, right? They stood by Jamal Lewis, right? And that thing is laughable at this point. What you know is, I’m wearing a curio shirt here, but like, I mean the prejudice and the racist. In Georgia that Ray Lewis endured in and just all of it. Ed garland, it was on my show many times, and then the Ray Rice fiasco. I, you know, I they have scandals in their own building that don’t make their way out of their building, that have made their way to me, real scandals. It’s awful stuff that goes on in their place that the NFL wants to call me and really investigate things. I could tell him some things, including throwing legitimate media member out and bullying me and having everybody in on it and just look the other way and lie to me that, like I dealt with that at the highest, highest level as an FCC license owner, a four decade decorated sports media member that they allow you in and not me, and they’re picking their media people. They bullied me. They lied to me on the back end of Ray Rice, on the back end of everything I know when I have gone to their senior management with issues within their organization that should be HR related, drunk players showing up in Harford County so drunk that I can’t air it the next day that happened, for real, for real. And I called them and said, Kevin Byrne didn’t care. Chad steal him. Are you kidding me? You know, like I spent time there lots of time, a lot of my life. There a lot of my money there, a lot of my attention, there, a lot of my heart there. So I get it. I know how they operate. They’re sleazy. I’ve called them sleazy, and that kicker is still on the franchise, still a part of the team. It’s so sleazy, they won’t let me in to ask questions. They really want no questions about it. They’re pushing it on to the league, which is a joke that the league would investigate anything because the league won’t investigate anything they call me so, like, if they want a real event, thorough investigation. So, um, I’ve seen how they operate. I would not shock me that he’s their kicker. He’ll be somebody’s kicker. I guess that’s my point. For the shield in the league is we’re all worked up at this draft next week, they’re gonna draft more criminals next week. So, you know, I hope there’s not an Aaron Hernandez in there anywhere. But I mean, the the belchers and the Hernandez’s and the Dan Snyder’s and what they did to Kaepernick and what they did to Gruden and just, just on and on and on and on, what they’ve done to me Ryan Ripken in the bed block. Courage Awards have tables on radio row at the Super Bowl. And after 35 years, I’ve been disappeared to the El Salvadorian. You know, actually, I have pretty good time doing a couple Super Bowls. I don’t want to get too too worked up about that, but this is how they’ve handled me personally, my business, everything that I’ve been about, everything I’ve stood by them, about what they did with their $600,000,000.02 years ago, like it’s a pretty sleazy operation all the way down, you know, see Goodell and Daniel Snyder and just all what they do with franchises. I can hold my Baltimore Colts, San Diego Chargers, Oakland Raiders, Houston Oilers belts up, you know, like so, I mean, I don’t mean the soliloquy today, but if anybody thinks that they’re done with Justin Tucker, if they were done with Justin Tucker, this would have been a lot easier to be done, but they’re not John with Justin Tucker. They’re looking to dress it up. Continue to blame. The media say it was all a big misunderstanding. And, you know, he’s still a great kicker, he’s a great guy, he’s a great guy, and that’s the way this, you know, it’s going to go that way for somebody when they hire him, because he’s going to kick for
Luke Jones 43:32
somebody. We’ll see. I mean, I’m not going to sit here and defend the National Football League, but at the same time, they’re the most popular entertainment entity in this country, short of Taylor Swift, probably.
8Nestor Aparicio 43:45
And they’re so powerful that they can have a Hall of Fame kicker cavorting around the city, behaving in the fashion that it was reported, alleged that he is behaved in and be completely impervious to it. Because if you called Kevin Byrne, or you called Chad Steele, or you called Dick Cass or you told Eric to Costa or his wife knew, or anybody that’s in the community that uses $150 an hour spas to legitimately massage people I know, I’ve met people who think there’s No such thing as a legitimate massage. It’s insane. You didn’t know a lot about it because you never had a massage, but like it. This is scandalous, dude. It’s scandalous. It was scandalous two months ago. It’s scandalous today. That’s it. That’s all I got for you today. But I hope you enjoy the draft.
Luke Jones 44:44
Yeah, and but I’ll go back to what I said they we also know this is a team that uses every edge, every bit of paranoia, every bit of misdirection, when whether we’re talking about injuries on the injury part of war. So. So from that standpoint, regardless of any perception of morality or the doing the right thing, or any of that zero tolerance, is it, is it easier? Is it easier for them to find their next kicker while Justin Tucker is still on the roster? From a, you know, from a football standpoint, from a leverage standpoint, in some way in their minds in April? Probably, yeah, probably, I don’t look the number of things I’ve I’ve heard people, you know what, whether we’re talking ravens Orioles, whatever it might be, the number of things that I’ve heard justified for some alleged competitive advantage, it’s hilarious. Now I’m not, let me be clear. I’m not
Nestor Aparicio 45:43
negligible is signing a guard who’s no good, who hasn’t been good enough to make your team to a contract three weeks after he blows a double deuce. I mean, Ben
Luke Jones 45:53
8Cleveland’s a perfectly fine reserve guard. I wouldn’t say that he’s no good, but
Nestor Aparicio 45:57
you didn’t need to go sign him Sure. If you were zero, if you were as a human being in a program right now, quietly getting fixed, and then you you think about signing them later, because that’s what you do with employees who have problems or have those kind of issues. Why I know I met a guy,
Luke Jones 46:15
that’s why I said to you at the time that I found that to be rather illuminating, that that they did that as quickly as they
Nestor Aparicio 46:22
did. They don’t care. They didn’t care a decade ago, when their player was out in front of half their fan base, so hammered I couldn’t put it on the air like they don’t care. They really don’t. Steve doesn’t care at all. I found that out the hard way. I mean, I, I, I, I gave him a lot of credit for having integrity he lacked. Go read my book. I wrote fiction about how they were allegedly behaving, and this is before Ray Rice. In the aftermath of Ray Rice, it’s fallen down the mountain. See The liar’s luncheon that I was that they’ve lied to everyone in the world about whether I’m a media member or not, so that I’m not there to ask questions for sport because it makes them feel good, not because it’s the right thing to do, not because they have any integrity or morality, not because they have any respect for their fan base. PSL owner, community leader, sports media person, person with good questions, person that’s written books about them, like, like, none of that mattered to Dick Cass, none of that mattered. Nothing matters to them except that the checks clear. That’s all that matters to them, and that they can Johnny Bravo up, Sashi Brown as being a community leader and a board sitter and like none of that, none of it matters. It’s meatballs. It just doesn’t matter. They’re getting $400 million in national television revenue that pays for everything, and then all the rest of it’s just gravy for Uncle Steve. And the next bonus that John’s gonna get, or the next thing they’re gonna have to do with Lamar, like it’s, it’s a turnkey, made operation with that just prints money, and they go to bed. They go to number one continuous night. They go to bed every night knowing that. So, you know, we don’t, I don’t delve much into this, but on the day after the liar’s luncheon and Jackie Robinson day, and like all of that, while people that look like me are sitting in El Salvador in jails, and nobody seems to care. And you know, Rubenstein’s gotten thrown out of the Kennedy Center by this, this goof running the country, and he can’t even speak up about democracy, owning the Magna Carta, but he opened their own bobblehead night to throw you a hat on Saturday night. Alright, Luke, anything else on the liar’s luncheon while you got me? I’m so fired up. I should write right now. I should, I should let it come out my fingers.
8Luke Jones 48:43
You know, I’ll have a 12 ravens thoughts at Baltimore positive.com on some of the other, mainly minutiae. I mean, we’ve done
Nestor Aparicio 48:49
so much on pitching in the Orioles, so much on hitting on the Orioles, so much on the draft, so you know, so much on their needs, so much on their home. Nobody’s covering this better than you and me. I mean, really, I mean, honestly, I mean, I mean that. So, you know, going into this, it’s sort of a weird draft, and from a from where they’re drafting later in the evening and all of that. But, you know, I think that they’ve walked away from Justin Tucker pretty well. I think that they can, they’re a Super Bowl contender no matter what they do next week. So I do think it’s just blocking and tackling for them at this point, right? Literally,
Luke Jones 49:23
yeah. I mean, they need to add some depth pieces, and they’ve got 11 picks, and I fully expect them to draft, you know, the Eric said a safety, a corner. I mean, it’d be more surprising if they didn’t. They’re going to draft defensive line. They’re going to draft it offensive lineman or two, I fully expect. And there you go, Edge rusher, there you go, and we’ll see how good those players are. You never know. But you said it. I mean, they’re a Super Bowl caliber roster already, just needing some depth here and there. You know, maybe one starter, you know? I don’t, I don’t even know if the first round pick will be a starter day one. You. Uh, because what spot? So you know, we’re counting down to that. And might not be the sexiest rap when you’re picking 27th but knowing their history, regardless of all the other issues that you just you know monolog about, they they’re good at picking football players, and chances are they’re going to come away with at least a handful of guys that are going to help them here over the next three or four years. I put that
Nestor Aparicio 50:25
8
in the excerpt at Baltimore positive there’s they’re still really good at picking just, you know, let them know I’m fair. I’m always fair with them. So I’m fair with the Orioles as well. And fair was expectations being high. We’re going to be we’re going to be over on Thursday at the Beaumont, where the expectations are always high, that food is going to be unbelievable. My wife got that, that pork tenderloin thing they do over there with the barbecue and the cream spinach and the mac and cheese and that little onions. Oh my god, it’s delicious. I’m not going to get that for lunch, though. I’m going to go something burgery for lunch. It is a crab cake tour. May have a crab cake for lunch. Got a couple of great guests coming out to Beaumont on Thursday, we will have the magic eight ball scratch offs, as well as the Back to the Future scratch offs that we’re going to be doing in the coming weeks. I’m wearing my Coco shirt. We’re there on the 30th. We’re Cooper’s North next Wednesday the 23rd doing a turn for LLS and all my friends in the Schultz family. Many of you Terps remember Curtis Schultz, his brother and his father, who was my one time athletic director at Dundalk High School. See if Ron Schultz can sing the Dundalk high alma mater. Going to challenge him on that wonder if he could sing that the math alma mater, because his kid went to the math and played for Morgan wooden so that’ll be a great show. That’s next Wednesday. The 23rd of Coopers north and Timonium also have some other great guests happening on the 30th we’re going to be at Cocos. Jamie Costello is coming out. I look really looking forward to talking some little league and some life after media. He’s going to Costello me some stories, from what I understand. My thanks to Luke for getting up early and staying up late. Liars luncheon. We’re we’re monitoring all things Orioles all weekend, as the Reds come to town this week as well. And a shout out to Ed Mullen and the good folks who do robotics for kids in Baltimore City in STEM programs. We talk about education all the time around here. Ed Mullen doing a turn here in Timonium wonder fly on Wednesday night. It’s called Luke. It’s called beer and bots get that’s beer and robots, right? Guess what the part I’m going for is the beer. Yeah, I am there for the beer. That is correct. I am the master of ceremonies. I love when they call me Master. I’ll be I’m seeing the duties there for the beer and bots folks. So come buy some tickets for that. That’s on Wednesday night over at the wonderfly as well. Draft week. Orioles home. Trouble brewing. I am Nestor. We are W, N, S, D, A, M, 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and we never stop talking Baltimore positive, even when I rant and rave. You.
