The Most Intrusive Thoughts of the 2026 NFL Offseason

From genuine interest in the Steelers offense to enduring power of the league's evolutionary instincts, Robert Mays and Derrik Klassen find themselves thinking certain things in mid-May that they didn't necessarily anticipate. They dig into all those things on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.

0:00 Welcome to the show
2:57 Pittsburgh Steelers offense
3:07 To be clear: this is not optimism
3:49 Aaron Rodgers
5:19 Michael Pittman
6:16 “As dishonorably as you possibly can!”
11:23 Continued NFL evolution
15:20 Running back value/contracts
18:06 Sean McVay & Mike Macdonald
18:25 Kyle Shanahan
20:57 Tight end timelines
21:40 TEs that break the mold
24:30 Drafting tight ends a year ahead
27:40 Flawed big picture decisions
28:23 Cleveland Browns example
30:05 Daniel Jones pricetag vs Kyler Murray pricetag
31:40 Tennessee Titans & Carnell Tate vs Arvell Reese
34:39 Titans & Wan’Dale Robinson, Brian Daboll
36:03 Quarterback runs
41:58 Robert is not a reliable narrator
42:58 Ben Johnson narrative
45:10 Where Johnson is amongst McVay, Shanahan, etc
46:07 Chicago Bears offense
49:00 Denver Broncos defense
53:36 Plan A: “Hope this works out!”

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