February Mailbag, Part I: Maxx Crosby Watch, Brandon Beane, Bills WR Plan, Jets reek, trades, Will Campbell's future

You've got (many) questions. Let's get to 'em all, starting with Part I.

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Hello! Welcome to our latest mailbag.

Bravo to all. The inbox was overflowing with burning questions this month.

I’ll break up our February Mailbag into three parts so we can dive into everything.

Also: I definitely want to get into the habit of recommending some books to read this offseason. Finishing up Chuck Klosterman’s “Football” right now and it is exceptional. Looking forward to welcoming Chuck onto the pod soon to discuss. A non-football book? Check out “Breath,” by James Nestor. After Jordan Poyer blew all of our minds with his insight into breathwork, my wife got this one for me for Christmas. This, too, just may blow your mind.

Let’s get to your inquiries. A ton on the docket.

• Brandon Beane minced no words in our sitdown. It was refreshing.

• Lions big splash? It is time.

• Raiders rebuild plans. We’re on Maxx Crosby Watch and one team makes perfect sense.

• Is Justin Jefferson a realistic Bills target? If not, then who?

• J-E-T-S, stink, stink, stink! But why is that smell so unbelievably rancid? We dish out some more F-minuses for Woody Johnson.

• Which players get traded? Which players stay put? A few thoughts.

• Can Will Campbell bounce back? How bad was Drake Maye’s shoulder?

As always, our mailbags are accessible to paid subscribers.

Thank you for growing out community into Year 6 of Go Long. No ads, no sponsors, no gambling BS here. We’re fueled by you and your willingness to share with a friend.

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Hey Ty,

Your story on the Bills hiring Joe Brady made some waves nationally, notably the GM’s “fuck the outside” quote. You sat down with Beane. You saw how he said it. What did you make of his comments?

Rick

Greetings, Rick. First, some context. This marks my 16th season covering the NFL full time. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel to the Buffalo News to Bleacher Report to our world here at Go Long, I’ve repeatedly seen the same old sequence play out whenever a subject’s honesty in a longform story is slapped across headlines nationwide. Almost immediately, the subject turtles up and claims to be taken out of context.

To recap, Brandon Beane did not hold back when I noted how his Joe Brady hire was perceived locally.

He knew there would be backlash. His quote in full:

“And to me? Fuck the outside. It’s about the right selection for this team. And if we win, they’ll love it. It’s the same thing I said when I took Josh Allen. If I’m wrong, the moving company will be at my house. So, I understand. And I’m not going to have regret of choosing someone to appease the outside if I thought it should have been something different. If I’m wrong, I’ll fucking take my job and fucking go home.

“I don’t want to be wrong — see him go somewhere else — when my gut told me it was Joe Brady. I’m never going to do that.

“I would love for everyone to cheer every move, but it’s not about winning the press conference. It’s about winning games over there.

“If we do that, everyone will cheer. If I selected who they want me to select or the outside noise — whatever those ratings were — and we don’t win? Guess who’s going to fucking hear about it? Me. So if I’m going to get yelled at, I’m going to get yelled at for choosing the guy that I believe can do this.”

A day later, both Beane and Brady conducted several remote interviews during Super Bowl Week. One of those spots was “The Schrager Hour” with ESPN’s Peter Schrager. “I saw the quote,” Schrager says. “It said, ‘F the outside.’ Maybe that was taken out of context.” At this exact point, Beane could’ve taken the bait. It’s easy to blame some nameless, faceless writer amid a media firestorm. Bury the messenger and move on.

Instead? Beane did not sprint 100 MPH the opposite direction. He owned his words.

Gotta say, it was refreshing.

Right or wrong, we don’t censor or sanitize anybody at Go Long. My goal is to bring you the sport in its realest ‘n rawest form, be it an F-bomb or an anecdote gleaned in our reporting. And fresh off one of the biggest decisions of his football life, Beane kept it real. I can promise you that Beane’s passionate “fuck the outside” answer was not haphazard. He maintained eye contact the entire time. He was himself. We all know the guy who F’s this and F’s that as a form of overcompensation. That’s not Beane. He’s not acting a part. One longtime NFL scout who swears like a sailor himself once told me that he couldn’t believe how many times Beane dropped the F-word in conversation ahead of one draft with the Bills.

Give me this authenticity.

Give me honesty amid a tidal wave of nonsense.

Most GMs and head coaches go 10, 20, 30 years sharpening the fine art of filibustering bullshit. A third of the league hired new coaches and I’d wager most of the hours and hours of press-conference coverage from those hires could double as a lullaby for a mid-winter’s nap. Beane understands what’s on the line — everyone’s job — and isn’t afraid to say it out loud. After spending an hour detailing why Brady was the man for the job, he simply verbalized the stakes: “If I’m wrong, I’ll fucking take my job and fucking go home.”

He is squarely putting all pressure on himself.

Football is a violent sport. Emotional sensitivities should be left at the door.

If this is all too bombastic for people, please by all means here’s two teaspoons of soccer.

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Hi Tyler,

Q: How does it feel to have the rest of the world catch up with your point of view after four years of blind criticism? I remember reading your longform “13 Seconds” article a couple of months after it happened and saying to myself ... finally someone has dived into this fiasco and unpacked the litany of errors made by an overmatched HC.

The unforgivable cascade of coaching errors that led to the complete meltdown after the Bills took the lead with 13 seconds left: the botched kickoff, two blown coverage plays allowing a FG to tie before the end of regulation, and then sitting back letting Mahomes go 6 of 6, unimpeded for a TD in OT.

Bills Mafia was devastated by the loss but no one was digging into the story and stringing together the set of circumstances and brain freeze which caused the malfunction.

For four years, the vast majority of Bills fans and the local media have been stubbornly willing to forgive continuous failure in the playoffs as long as there was a good regular-season record and a tight-knit team culture.

Ironically it was Josh’s river of tears that finally convinced the owner that he no longer could stand pat and the inevitable decision was finally made.

— Brian Bimm

Appreciate all kind words, Brian. And a huge thank you to everyone in Western New York (and beyond) for following our coverage with an open mind.

Beyond citing “execution” — official coach code for blaming players — head coach Sean McDermott refused to supply any detail whatsoever in the aftermath of Buffalo’s paralyzing 42-36 overtime loss to Kansas City. Not only were fans left in the dark. Most players had no clue what happened. When we caught up that spring, tight end Dawson Knox called 13 Seconds “an unspoken tragedy.” So, I just tried to phone everyone possible to piece that “tragedy” together.

That initial story Brian notes is right here, if anyone missed it.

We also got some more intel in Part II of our “McDermott Problem” series.

When McDermott was finally fired after his eighth playoff defeat, I was stunned by how many times “13 Seconds” came up from team sources inside the building. Time did not heal. Scars remain. To this day, all parties involved believe the 2021 Buffalo Bills should be Super Bowl Champions. I think McDermott’s lack of accountability after the fact was worse than any of his misgivings on the field. He didn’t take any public or private ownership of the loss, so the tumor only metastasized.

This was one of the worst sports collapses of the 21st century.

Maybe some of my colleagues in the media disagree. That’s fine. In my opinion, “13 Seconds” always warranted a forensic study.

Hello Ty,

Thanks for all the great content at Go Long.

I have a two-part question about the Lions offseason. How much cap space can they create (releases, restructures, etc.) and what will it take to acquire Maxx Crosby from the Raiders?

Sincerely,

— Tim Reuter

Let’s welcome a Go Long OG to the party. Howdy, Tim! We are definitely overdue to wrap our brains around your beloved Detroit Lions. Yes, Bob McGinn and myself have been far, far too lovey-dovey when it comes to Dan Campbell. Guilty as charged. We’ve been tracking his construction from Day 1, from the O-Line grunts to the DNA of this roster to those ass-kickers’ origins to how Campbell gets players to play fast ‘n free. No club’s been hit harder by injuries than the Lions the last two seasons, but we cannot use those as an excuse. Campbell’s comments after his team’s 2023 NFC Championship Game defeat — “this may have been our only shot” — will replay until Detroit gets to its first-ever Super Bowl.

Pressure’s on in 2026 to deliver.

Detroit has correctly re-upped its core: Jared Goff (four years, $212 million), Amon-Ra St. Brown (four years, $120M), Penei Sewell (four years, $112M), Aidan Hutchinson (four years, $180M), Alim McNeill (four years, $97M), Jameson Williams (three years, $80M) and Kerby Joseph (four years, $86M), amongst others. All of this does complicate improving the roster this spring for GM Brad Holmes and Campbell. As you note, the Lions are still hunting for a pass-rushing threat opposite Hutchinson.

Per Over The Cap’s calculations, the Lions rank 27th in available cap space. They are one of 10 teams currently in the red at $9.9 million over the cap.

Cutting players loose is the quickest way to create space. Moving on from Graham Glasgow ($5.56M) and David Montgomery ($3.51M) would get this team’s head above water.

Then, it’s all about restructuring contracts. Owner Sheila Ford Hamp seems all-in on winning a championship. If so, the Lions can push financial problems into the future to create cap space. As Justin Rogers at the Detroit Football Network wrote, Goff is scheduled to carry a massive $69.6 million cap hit (base salary of $55M). Considering he’s got three years left on his deal and a void year in 2029, the Lions can convert his salary into bonuses and spread it across four seasons. To the extreme, as Rogers notes, the franchise could lower his salary to the vet’s minimum and clear north of $40 million in space.

This same logic applies to all stars who inked those mega extensions.

If any team wants to make a splash, there’s a path. I do wonder if the Los Angeles Rams boomeranging right back into title contention will entice front offices to forget everything they’ve been taught about prudent roster-building. Mid-parade, Rams GM Les Snead wore a “Fuck them picks” t-shirt with his face on it. After falling back one season, the Rams have made the playoffs three straight years. In ‘24, they were the one team that made Philly sweat. In ‘25, they might’ve been one NFCCG muffed punt away from winning it all.

Holmes worked with Snead from 2012 to 2020.

Campbell never met a fourth down he didn’t love.

The way last season unfolded was particularly maddening. The 9-8 Lions beat the NFC North champs twice and five of their eight losses were by one score or less.

I’ve got to think this is the organization that swings big this offseason. Al-Quadin Muhammad, profiled here, was a nice revelation. As a pass-rush specialist, he totaled 11 sacks and 26 pressures. Our friends at Spotrac gauge his market value at $7.9 million this spring. But after cycling through countless edge rushers, it’s time for the Lions to move mountains and acquire Maxx Crosby. Hard to imagine a defensive player in the sport who embodies all that “grit” espoused by Campbell more than this long-armed, 6-foot-5, 255-pound human monster truck. Since 2019, Crosby has accumulated 69.5 sacks, 164 quarterback hits and 266 pressures.

He’s in prime. He’s a Michigan native. Crosby and Hutchinson would be about as close as we’d get to Shaq and Kobe on the defensive side of the ball. “It just sounds right,” Hutchinson told Up & Adams on Radio Row. “In the event that it did happen, that would be so dangerous. Me and Maxx have a great relationship, I’d love to play with him.”

So, sure. To hell with those picks. Draft better in the second and third rounds. The Lions can afford to part with multiple first-rounders because it’s time to win now.

Not to mention, Detroit’s gain would also be Chicago’s loss. You’ve got to think Ben Johnson will make a push.

It makes all the sense in the world for Crosby and the Raiders to amicably break up.

Which brings us to our next question…

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As we enter the offseason, I always wonder about how realistic it is for people that are rumored to be traded really are. So, who are a couple of guys that you think will get traded and who are a couple of guys that are in the rumor mill who you think won’t get traded?

— James Weise

Let’s start with Mad Maxx. Speaking of F-bombs, Crosby recently went off on the Let’s Go! podcast with Jim Gray.

As it pertains to his future, here’s what the Las Vegas Raider had to say. (Earmuffs!)

“I just want to focus on football. That’s truly what I want. People that know me know I’m about the work and football. I just want to play football and be left the fuck alone. Period. And the people that don’t understand that don’t fucking know me. People can say whatever they want. … Truly, I don’t give a fuck besides playing football and winning football games. I give my whole life to this sport every single day. I’m here every morning. My alarm goes off at 4:55 and I am fucking driving 35 minutes across town in an empty, dark building doing the same thing every single day trying to help my team, trying to help myself. People can talk all they want. People can go on Twitter. I don’t see half the shit. Half of it is news to me. I just care about playing football.”

One thing you didn’t hear Crosby say? I want to play for the Las Vegas Raiders this season.

New HC Klint Kubiak said he enjoyed a cup of coffee with Crosby. That’s swell. I’m sure I’m not the only one here who started a break-up with a cup ‘o joe.

The Raiders and Crosby are on totally different timelines right now. Clearly, this tattooed menace cares deeply about winning games. As a member of the Raiders, he’s won 46 games and lost 65. He’s got to be sick and tired of playing meaningless football in December. And the Raiders — full of holes — could desperately use more draft ammo. Bank on the Raiders keeping their No. 1 pick and selecting Indiana’s Fernando Mendoza. Wait too long looking for a franchise quarterback and you’ll wind up fired anyway. Mendoza’s skill-set fits Kubiak’s play-action offense. Through a 16-0 season with the Hoosiers, Mendoza’s best work came off play-action. This can work.

This team also is not close to competing for an AFC West title, let alone the Super Bowl.

In Crosby, the Raiders have a chance to move an asset and genuinely rebuild.

They’ll have no problem driving up the price. There should be many suitors.

Who else could realistically get moved? Here are three.

• Anthony Richardson. There’s always a quarterback guru out there who believes they’re the one with the Midas touch. Richardson barely played any football at Florida and then had the best Combine we’ve ever seen at the position. As our Bob McGinn reported, Richardson’s issues run deeper than anything on the field. It would be interesting to see how he’d develop in a place like Kansas City with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes. Back to his Green Bay days, Reid knows the value of stockpiling talent at the position.

• Kyler Murray. He has run his course with the Arizona Cardinals. He’s tiny. He needed a video-game clause in his contract. Two of his head coaches have been fired. And yet? There’s enough talent here to envision things clicking for Murray in the right situation. If he gets to Minnesota, don’t be surprised if his game takes off. If he lands with the New York Jets, send poor Kyler your T’s and P’s. Maybe it’s Murray. Maybe it’s Mac Jones. I think Kevin O’Connell makes a move for someone this spring.

• A.J. Brown. Seems good as gone… right? Howie Roseman has surprised us before. Philly would be stuck with $43.5 million in dead money if they traded Brown before June 1. Despite his dip in production, there are WR-needy teams out — Buffalo? New England? — willing to part with a player and a pick. Feels like the Eagles need to finally cut ties for the good of the locker room.

Who doesn’t get moved? Gut feeling here is that Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson and Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins stay put.

Buffalo could lose Connor McGovern and David Edwards in free agency. Dawkins is 32 years old. Beane should consider developing a mid-round pick behind him. But gutting one of the league’s top offensive lines to this degree isn’t wise.

Will Justin Jefferson be traded? (The correct answer is yes, and to the Buffalo Bills. PLEASE!)

— Jacob Fish

If a wide receiver can make an impossible one-handed catch like this on fourth and 18, hey, anything’s possible. (Sorry, Jacob.) Given the Minnesota Vikings’ spending last offseason — and the pressure on Kevin O’Connell after the GM’s firing — I just have a hard time tracking the logic of handing the NFL’s best wide receiver to somebody else.

You do raise an important issue. The Bills need a wide receiver. Or two. More than a blockbuster to this extreme, it makes sense for the Bills to trade for a receiver such as Indianapolis Colts vet Michael Pittman Jr. and then double dip with a prospect in the first or second round of the draft. That’d give the team enough financial wiggle room to find players built for Jim Leonard’s new scheme on D.

Pittman has been widely considered a trade candidate for a Colts team in need of salary cap space to sign a quarterback and/or re-sign free agent Alec Pierce. He averaged less than 10 yards per reception last season, but the 6-foot-4, 223-pounder has been tough and dependable his entire career through sloppy quarterback play.

He’s 28. His game should age well for another three or four years.

We spoke at length with Pittman for a feature last season. Sure sounded like the kind of player Beane and Brady would want.

“I am the ultimate competitor,” Pittman explained. “And I have almost hypnotized myself into believing that nobody wants to win as bad as I want to win — and I am willing to go the furthest to win in any aspect. I know that I’m willing to give more effort, go harder and go further than you’re willing to go to get what I want.”

Hey Tyler, what’s wrong with the Jets? How do they manage to find new levels of dysfunction? What is Woody Johnson’s relationship with Aaron Glenn and how much say does Glenn have over the team? Thank you for a great season of reporting and I look forward to a great offseason! Go Bills!

— Barak Goldberg

Haven’t had the pleasure of visiting Jets HQ — their PR department does not return our emails — but I’d imagine the sensation is something like getting sprayed by a dozen skunks. Woody Johnson is the common denominator.

Hard to envision a better future for this team as long as he’s meddling to any degree.

This week, Rich Cimini reported that Wink Martindale left his second interview for the Jets DC job under the impression that Glenn had changed up the duties of the job. After Interview No. 1, Martindale thought he’d have the chance to run his own defense. After Interview No. 2, it was evident Glenn would be calling the defense.

Per the report, Glenn met with Johnson in Florida.

“The timing of those meetings,” Cimini wrote, “coupled with the seemingly abrupt end to Martindale's candidacy, fueled speculation that Johnson, who has a reputation for meddling, had instructed Glenn to run the defense himself.”

This could be a case of an owner wondering why he hired a defensive coach if that coach won’t call his own plays.

The 36-year-old Brian Duker got the DC job with Glenn presumably calling the shots.

Nothing should surprise us from an owner who wanted to kibosh the NFLPA report cards because he didn’t like his own filth getting exposed. This team has not made the playoffs since 2010 and there’s nothing in-house to suggest the drought will end any time soon. Somehow, the Jets managed to dig a new low last season. Twelve of Glenn’s original 22 hires a year ago have already been fired. The Jets went an entire season without registering an interception.

Not sure anybody knows how much freedom Glenn has to build the Jets.

I’ll do what I can to get answers this offseason.

The Sauce Gardner trade did give this team extra picks to build. They own the No. 2 and No. 16 overall picks this spring. Hope, however, is again in short supply. What’s the plan at quarterback? Which veteran quarterback with any upside whatsoever would want to play for the Jets? Beyond Mendoza, this doesn’t appear to be a strong draft class, either. Suppose the Jets could auction off that No. 2 selection for more picks and take Alabama’s Ty Simpson somewhere.

Don’t inhale. These are bad, bad times in the New Jersey swamp.

Hi Tyler,

Thanks for another great season. Drake Maye and Will Campbell are taking some heat in NE for mentioning their injuries post-SB. Local insiders say that the team did not feel it impacted performance. Any insight on that? Realizing everyone is dealing with something, they both looked different post-injury to me.

— Michael Wachtel

Do people around the NFL see Campbell as a Tackle or a Guard?

— Adam Steinmetz

We’ll polish off Part I of our Mailbag by combining two Patriot questions. Great to hear from you both through our Patriots stories this season.

Expectedly, both Drake Maye (shoulder) and Will Campbell (knee) downplayed their injuries during Super Bowl Week. That’s commonplace. Lamenting an injury accomplishes nothing in the lead-up to the biggest game of their lives. Neither wants a defender teeing off on their ailment.

But what’s also commonplace in the NFL is the great reveal of injuries during locker-room clean-up day. I can still remember Robert Woods opening up about his gruesome groin injury after his 2015 Bills season. Couldn’t believe he tried playing through that pain. Maye didn’t use his right shoulder injury as an excuse, simply stating the fact that he had a painkilling injection administered. Campbell was also careful with how he worded things, but admitted he played with a torn ligament in his knee.

I’ll always be pro-player on this front. These guys are dealing with far more pain than we can comprehend. In real time, it’s a tricky balance. Both team and player must decide where to draw the line. Obviously you’d take a banged-up Maye over Joshua Dobbs and Tommy DeVito. Competent left tackles are also a rare breed. New England could’ve shelved Campbell for good, I suppose? Coaches and trainers obviously figured he was healthy enough to play.

Seattle represented the worst possible opponent, exacerbating both situations.

Injury or not, Maye had a brutal night. I’m sure you both saw the Mic’d Up clip of Julian Love calling him “a classic young quarterback” who hits his back foot and pauses to confirm his receiver’s open before throwing the ball. Love said Maye is not “blindly” throwing the ball like Matthew Stafford into windows. Then, the Seahawks safety effectively ended the game with an easy-does-it interception. How much does a bum shoulder play into this hesitation? How much of it is a 23-year-old playing in his first Super Bowl? Probably a combination of both. After rewatching the game in full — and comparing it to the Maye we saw all regular season — the shoulder absolutely affected his game.

Campbell’s future is tricky. Loved getting to know this cat-hatin,’ gator-huntin’ cajun ahead of Super Bowl LX. In the end, Campbell did prove to be one of the most important players in this game… for all of the wrong reasons. Next Gen Stats credited him for 14 pressures allowed, the most for any player all season long. To a fault, he’s always been someone who tries to play through pain. His high school coach shared the story of Campbell swapping street clothes for pads at halftime of a playoff game. He couldn’t stand watching his team struggle.

After missing four games with an MCL injury, he had a rough postseason. He was not the same player. Given his less-than-ideal arm length, a move to guard could lead to an All-Pro career but Mike Vrabel shot down that idea immediately. “Will’s 22 years old,” Vrabel said. “He’s our left tackle. He’ll get better, he’ll get stronger.” I tend to agree with Vrabel for now. Give Campbell another season at left tackle.

History’s rich with stories of Pro Bowl tackles who struggled mightily as rookies. We don’t have to look back too far.

Giants left tackle Andrew Thomas and Eagles right tackle Lane Johnson — two of the best in the biz — had miserable rookie seasons. Both allowed 10 sacks and 57 pressures, per PFF. Campbell is not built like Jonathan Ogden and Walter Jones on the edge. Far from it. But some of the best to ever coach linemen, like Patriots lifer Dante Scarnecchia, see hope for Campbell through refined technique.

I get the impulse for post-Super Bowl freakouts. This was a first-round knockout.

Here’s thinking New England’s future remains very bright.

Read Part II here.

ICYMI: