FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 21st, 2019

PETER KING ON JALEN RAMSEY & CHANGING NFL TRADE CULTURE IN THIS WEEK’S “FMIA” COLUMN; PLUS MORE FROM TIRICO, DUNGY, HARRISON, FLORIO & SIMMS EXCLUSIVELY ACROSS NBC SPORTS

 “When in doubt, go get the stud, and worry about everything else later.”
– King on the Jalen Ramsey Trade

 “I think for players with leverage, they see this as being the NBA. ‘I’ll go where I want to go.’” – Former NFL GM Bill Polian on Trades in the NFL

 “The offense is so abysmal that coach Matt Nagy has to strongly consider doing something he absolutely, positively doesn’t want to do: bench Mitchell Trubisky for Chase Daniel.” – King on the Bears

“We’re seeing these receivers in the game that we can’t even identify and he is just putting the ball on the money, making them all look like they’re 10-year vets.” – Tony Dungy on Aaron Rodgers on The Mike Tirico Podcast

STAMFORD, Conn. – October 21, 2019 – Peter King discusses the Los Angeles Rams’ trade for defensive back Jalen Ramsey and the NFL’s evolving mindset on trades in this week’s edition of Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com. King also speaks with former NFL general manager Bill Polian, and shares his thoughts on the rest of the NFL weekend.

Additionally, across NBC Sports, on The Mike Tirico Podcast, Mike Tirico, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison and Mike Florio recap Week 7, while Florio and Chris Simms break down all of the action across the NFL on PFT Live and Chris Simms Unbuttoned.

The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:

JALEN RAMSEY

King on the Rams: “It should be obvious now, as the Los Angeles Rams feel the slings and arrows from around the league for gorging on the present at the expense of the future, what the identity of this franchise is…It’s not about the PSLs or filling the new stadium next year or knee-jerking a response to a three-game losing streak.”

Rams COO Kevin Demoff: “This is who we are. This is what we do. This is our belief as an organization…This league is so fast-moving. It hasn’t been this way forever for us, but now, we’re going to value the great player over the potential of a draft choice.”

Rams GM Les Snead on if he fears not signing Ramsey long-term: “No. I can honestly say I do not fear that. He’s coming to L.A., which is where players love to play. He’s got Sean [McVay], who is great at creating a culture players thrive in.”

Rams S Eric Weddle: “When your team is built for the now and you have a chance in the future to have two of the best players in this league to build around, Jalen and Aaron Donald, you can get role players to build around them…When you have a chance to get one of the best players in the league for two ones, I mean, why not do it?”

King on trading draft picks: “When in doubt, go get the stud, and worry about everything else later.”

King: “The teams in trade discussions with Jacksonville were convinced the problem for Ramsey was with Tom Coughlin and no one else.”

 

NFL TRADES

King on trades: “In a larger sense it’s about a sea change in how the new wave of GMs and team architects are approaching the NFL…The Rams are not alone in bulking up on trades…This could be an outlier season regarding trades, but I doubt it.”

Former GM Bill Polian on trades: “I think for players with leverage, they see this as being the NBA. ‘I’ll go where I want to go.’…But there’s also a little bit of the old [Dodgers GM] Branch Rickey in some of the newer GMs. Rickey said, ‘The only title you can win is the title you can win this year.’”

Polian: “I think this generation of GMs might be a little more transactional. It used to be not many GMs thought about taking risks…Today, the idea that you can make these decisions and change your team quickly is inculcated in this generation.”

Demoff: “The NBA is coming to the NFL. This [the Ramsey trade] is a similar case to those NBA deals. Prior team-building formulas, where you basically had guys for their careers, is pretty much over.”

 

KING’S WEEK 7 THOUGHTS

King on the MVP race: “A vote today would be the most wide-open vote since 2003…I’d put three players at the head of the class right now: Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson.”

King on the Bears: “The offense is so abysmal that coach Matt Nagy has to strongly consider doing something he absolutely, positively doesn’t want to do: bench Mitchell Trubisky for Chase Daniel. That’s how bad Trubisky looks in year three.”

King on Teddy Bridgewater: “All the reasons Minnesota favored him over Johnny Manziel in the 2014 pre-draft process are apparent now, and Bridgewater is earning himself a future…Two interesting spots for Bridgewater if he leaves New Orleans after this season: in Denver…or as Tennessee’s pick to succeed Marcus Mariota. He’ll be one of the league’s most interesting spring 2020 stories.”

King on the 49ers: “I think the most amazing thing about this NFL season, as I look a month down the road, is this: The Niners have three of the next four at home…They are 6-0 now. Imagine for a moment the next game, on Nov. 24 in Santa Clara. Green Bay at San Francisco. It could be the 9-1 Pack at the 10-0 Niners. Whatever it is, that game’s going to be a gem.”

King on pass interference calls: “No one has explained to this day why the standard to overturn a call has changed drastically from March till now. In March, as I wrote last week, the Brandin Cooks non-call in the Super Bowl would have been flagged under the new rules this year. Yet muggings worse than that do not get overturned now. Who changed the standard? When did it change? Why did it change?”

 

KING’S WEEK 7 AWARDS

Offensive Players of the Week: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay, Jacoby Brissett, Indianapolis & Chase Edmonds, Arizona.

King on Brissett: “Playing for sole possession of the AFC South eight weeks after the sudden retirement of Andrew Luck, Brissett outplayed one of the hottest quarterbacks in football, Houston’s Deshaun Watson.”

Defensive Players of the Week: Marcus Peters, Baltimore, Chandler Jones, Arizona, Nick Bosa, San Francisco & Anthony Hitchens, Kansas City.

King on Bosa: “The more we see of Bosa, the more it looks like he could be the best of all the recent top-of-the-draft-pick pass-rushers and QB-disruptors.”

Goats of the Week: Derek Carr, Oakland & Melvin Gordon, Los Angeles Chargers

King on Gordon: “Why exactly did the Chargers bring back Gordon? He continued his disappointing return to play in Nashville on Sunday. He had a wholly unimpactful 16 carries for 32 yards.”

Read the rest of the FMIA column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.

 

The following are highlights from this week’s edition of The Mike Tirico Podcast:

THE MIKE TIRICO PODCAST

Tony Dungy on Aaron Rodgers: “We’re seeing these receivers in the game that we can’t even identify and he is just putting the ball on the money, making them all look like they’re 10-year vets and they’ve been in the system. He was fantastic.”

Rodney Harrison on the Bears: “It’s very important that Matt Nagy gets that offense up to par because that defense is a great defense, but when they’re on the field every three plays, they get tired.”

Mike Florio on Jalen Ramsey trade: “This to me felt maybe a little panic-driven after losing three games in a row…because to get the Jalen Ramsey trade done without getting him signed now…and just to get a promise from him that he won’t hold out next year, that’s meaningless.”

 

The following are clips from last night’s edition of Football Night in America:

 

The following are additional highlights of NBC Sports’ NFL coverage heading into Week 5:

    • Mike Florio and Chris Simms, with guest Peter King, discuss all things NFL on PFT Live, including handing out their Week 7 superlatives, sharing updated power rankings, and making their Week 8 game picks.
    • On Chris Simms Unbuttoned, Simms deep dives into film of two games from Week 7 decided by the fans (Twitter poll).

 

A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on NBCSN’s and NBC Sports Radio’s PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.

—NBC SPORTS—