The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL – Details, episodes & analysis

The George Pickens trade (mostly) brought to an end a busy offseason movement period for wide receivers. Davante Adams, D.K. Metcalf, Cooper Kupp, Stefon Diggs, Deebo Samuel, and Christian Kirk all find themselves on new teams. Ja'Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, Chris Godwin and Metcalf all signed big extensions. Ten receivers, including Travis Hunter, were selected in the first 70 picks of the NFL Draft, and reliable veterans like DeAndre Hopkins, Tyler Lockett and Josh Palmer also found new homes. What's the state of the wide receiver landscape after all that movement? Which groups improved the most? Which ones have us a bit concerned? And which ones are we sneaky excited to watch this season? Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen run that full route tree on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Host: Robert Mays

Co-Host: Derrik Klassen

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

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Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Almost every take comes scorching hot, right out of the oven. Some of them get cold awfully fast. But the good news about those cold takes is that we can learn a thing or two from them! So, what did our cold takes from 2024 teach us about the NFL and the way we think about it? Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen dig back in the shadowy past and bring it to light on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Rundown

• The Jaguars are a playoff-quality team
• The Texans offense is elite
• Giants over Broncos and Commanders in the Wins Pool
• Everything about the Commanders
• Missing on the Eagles and Vikings defense
• Buying Jerod Mayo and the Patriots defense
• More pass-catchers is always good! (Stefon Diggs and Keenan Allen additions)
• Where was our 49ers doubt?

Host: Robert Mays

Co-Host: Derrik Klassen

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

⁠⁠Apple⁠⁠

⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠

⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠

Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A great comedy movie isn't going to win any Oscars, but it's a fun two hours at the movies. That's the offensive line class in the 2025 NFL Draft. It may not be stocked with potential future All-Pros, but it does have more than its fair share of players who project as quality starters. Dane Brugler and Brandon Thorn from the Trench Warfare Substack join Robert Mays to break down the class on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Host: Robert Mays

Co-Host: Derrik Klassen

With: Dane Brugler and Brandon Thorn

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

Apple

Spotify

YouTube

Follow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.social

Follow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.social

Follow Dane on Bluesky: @danebrugler.bsky.social

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Follow Dane on X: @dpbrugler

Follow Brandon on X: @BrandonThornNFL

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chiefs-Bills week has become a hallmark of the Patrick Mahomes/Josh Allen era, and the 2024 edition is upon us. But hey, there's more! The first Ravens-Steelers game of the season is on Sunday, too. Seahawks-49ers, Falcons-Broncos and Bengals-Chargers, oh my! Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen dig into all that, and a whole lot more, on a jam-packed Week 11 preview episode of The Athletic Football Show.

Rundown

• Commanders-Eagles recap
• Game of the Week: Chiefs at Bills
• Game of the Week: Ravens at Steelers
• One thing from...Seahawks at 49ers
• One thing from...Falcons at Broncos
• One thing from...Bengals at Chargers
• The sneaky fun part of Rams-Patriots
• Could the Dolphins make the playoffs?
• Take Tribunal: We need to rethink how we conceive of good and bad quarterback situations
• What Do You Wanna Know?

Host: Robert Mays

Co-Host: Derrik Klassen

Executive Producer: Michael Beller

Producer: Michael Beller

Subscribe to The Athletic Football Show...

Apple

Spotify

YouTube

Follow Robert on X: @robertmays

Follow Derrik on X: @QBKlass

Theme song: Haunted

Written by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love Songs

Courtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was a busier than expected day 1 of the NFL tampering period. Lindsay Jones joins Robert Mays to react to some of the biggest deals including Joe Thuney to the Chiefs, the Bucs keeping Shaq Barrett, the Patriots making numerous moves and tons more. Then former NFL offensive lineman and current host of 'Geoff Schwartz is Smarter Than You', Geoff Schwartz chats with Robert about his experience from the player's side during free agency. 

Get all-access to The Athletic at theathletic.com/footballshow

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Robert Mays and Nate Tice begin the show by discussing the surprise cuts on the Chiefs’ offensive line as well as Matt Milano’s four-year extension with the Bills. Then they dive into several under-the-radar free agents, including Corey Davis, Matt Feiler, Trey Hendrickson and more.

Plus, Richard Johnson sits down with Robert to create the perfect Jaguars’ offseason. They discuss the team’s blank slate, where they should be spending the most money in free agency and the future landscape of the AFC South. 

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First, Robert and Lindsay recap NFL franchise tag deadline day, discussing the biggest takeaways from guys that got tagged, like Cam Robinson and Marcus Williams, and guys that didn’t, like Kenny Golladay, Carl Lawson, and Joe Thuney, the Bucs deciding to tag Chris Godwin over Shaq Barrett, potential Kenny Golladay landing spots, and more.

Plus, Over The Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald stops by to break down optimal free agency planning, including addressing the defense first, targeting multiple $3-4 million contract players, rather than putting all your eggs in one basket, how the Buffalo Bills have successfully defied certain expectations about spending a lot of free agency money, and much more.

You can get an annual subscription to The Athletic for just $3.99 a month when you visit theathletic.com/footballshow

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What should we think of Dak Prescott's record-breaking contract with the Cowboys and what kind of precedent does it set for the rest of the NFL? The Athletic's QB Guru Mike Sando of The Football GM podcast joins Robert Mays to break down the details of the Dak Prescott contract, Russell Wilson rumors, and look around the league at how QB movement has changed in recent years. Then Robert welcomes former player agent and current CBS Sports analyst Joel Corry for some insight on the player and agent side of free agency negotiations.

Be sure to get the best deal on a subscription to The Athletic at theathletic.com/footballshow

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ESPN analyst and Monday Night Football color commentator Louis Riddick joins The Athletic’s Robert Mays to assess free agency through the lens of NFL front offices. Riddick discusses his time as a pro personnel director, the influence coaches have on the process and the importance of relationships in the locker room.

Later in the show, Nate Tice talks about his time as a scouting assistant before diving into the Russell Wilson trade rumors. Finally, they examine the Bills and Ravens’ proposed rule changes.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First, Robert and Lindsay break down the overall financial landscape, and realities of a depressed salary cap, heading into the free agency period, and how some of the uncertainty about the cap will impact players and teams heading into the 2021 season.

Then, Lindsay is joined by Assistant Executive Director of External Affairs for the NFLPA, George Atallah, to discuss how the 2021 TV deals will affect next season’s salary cap, and its potential impact on free agency, the biggest takeaways and lessons learned from the 2020 pandemic season, players’ top priorities in the next CBA, what role vaccines could play in the 2021 season, if players could have more of a formal role in teams’ hiring processes, and more.

You can get an annual subscription to The Athletic for just $3.99 a month when you visit theathletic.com/footballshow

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.