Why I am bothered on a regular basis by the nonsense so often spewed by ESPN when it comes to its "coverage'' of the NFL and the Dallas Cowboys, I do not possess a cold, hard heart.
And I am therefore finding myself increasingly feeling sorry for Mike Tannenbaum. ... even as he spews away, misguiding his audience into thinking a Cowboys signing of New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley would be "perfect.''
I ask you take a minute to watch this video, with Tannenbaum, the former New York Jets GM now an "insider'' on ESPN, trying to explain his ridiculous thoughts on why Russell Wilson should sign with those Jets, for minimum wage ... to serve as the backup to four-time MVP Aaron Rodgers.
It's ... sad. This is no staged set-up, as so many of ESPN's "debates'' are. The other panelists are genuinely shocked at the stupidity here. Bart Scott insinuates that Tannenbaum is drunk. Dan Graziano has on his face a look on contempt for his colleague and seems prepared to march off the set.
"Pay him $1 million and let him resurrect his career," Tannenbaum insisted, failing to realize, among other things, that sitting out 17 games as Rodgers' backup would "resurrect'' nothing.
So ... it's hard to tell when these guys are just being outrageous for the sake of ratings, or whether they are truly ignorant to how this stuff works. And yet ...
*How can a former NFL GM be ignorant enough to tie Barkley to Dallas as “easy” to see (Tannenbaum's take)?
*How can a former NFL GM say that Dallas' "first-thing'' free agency priority should be to sign someone from an NFC East team "to help us and hurt our opponent?''
*How can a former NFL GM skip over the unlikely scenario that would have Dallas pay Barkley what might be the going rate of, say, $12 million APY? I think Barkley is a special player, but there is no indication that the Cowboys view him as being that special.
Does Tannenbaum not have somebody inside The Star who he can ask about this before revealing himself to be a fool?
“He would be perfect,” Tannenbaum explained. “He can catch, he can run, I think his pass protection has actually gotten better. And based on the way Tony Pollard played, I actually think he would improve that position for the 2024 Cowboys.''
You know when I come to realize that a GM isn't a GM, when a scout isn't a scout? When they describe players as "perfect.'' ... because that's not a scouting term. That's a TV term.
Strangely, Tannenbaum actually thinks he's offering up a revelation when he states that Barkley is better than Pollard. That's not up for debate; at the right price, I'll take Barkley on my team all day.
But creating a connection between him and the Cowboys? That I cannot do. Because that is misleading the audience with nonsense.
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