What's Wright - Bills INSANE press conference, Nick's Lamar Jackson Ravens-Raiders TRADE, NFL Awards | Nick Wright

Welcome in. I’m a little salty you keep smoking the teasers while I grind out five-hundred picks, and now you’re drilling playoff picks too. Quick programming note: we’ll fold the two title-game previews into tomorrow’s gambling show, so today is newsy—Lakers reporting, awards finalists, and first, the Bills’ press conference mess, right after a voicemail.

That voicemail hit a few beats: Dunleavy’s icy line on trade demands and the ongoing Kuminga friction, the Knicks holding a players-only meeting then thumping the Nets, and Baker calling out Stefanski. Takeaway that actually travels: make the uncomfortable call, or the regret hangs around; also, rate and subscribe because, yes, we’re trying to help your life and your bets.

On the Bills, this is a unicorn moment: premium jobs tied to MVP-level quarterbacks almost never open. I had Buffalo as the better gig than Baltimore, but Bisciotti’s command at the mic versus Pegula’s wobble made me pause.

Pegula basically confirmed the hunch that McDermott’s fate turned on how wrecked Josh Allen was postgame, which puts a heavy weight on your quarterback’s shoulders. It’s extra strange when the owner also believes they lost on a bad call, yet still uses that moment to trigger a change.

There’s real scar tissue here: the early AFC title loss to a buzzsaw, the 13-seconds collapse, the Hamlin trauma, Cincy walking into their place, the missed kick versus KC, and now this year’s overtime gut-punch. So shaking the snow globe made sense, even if the press conference turned a necessary pivot into self-inflicted chaos.

The Keon Coleman blame game was the worst of it: the owner pinning the pick on the coaches, while draft-room clips show the GM excited, and the OC who would’ve vouched for a receiver is still on staff and even interviewing. That puts a young, cheap player at a crossroads—use it as fuel or let it sour you.

The search is fascinating—names like Lou Anarumo make sense, a Belichick moonshot would be polarizing, Tomlin’s not walking through that door, and running it back with close Allen allies feels too cozy. Also notable: we still haven’t heard from Allen, and that silence is loud.

Trade talk time: I floated Lamar for Max Crosby and the number one pick, which, in value terms, is like five firsts when you account for Crosby’s market and the premium for the top slot. The Ravens’ side is the thought experiment—rookie-scale quarterback plus a blue-chip edge and big cap room versus paying top-of-market for Lamar, with a new coach and a complicated contract ahead.

You pushed back on the price, and I get it; star-for-star feels light. My frame is roster building: that package lets you contend now with a cheap quarterback, not rebuild, and Lamar’s no-trade clause means he can guide any move anyway.

On Baxter Holmes’s piece, the main story is the Buss family and a potential sale, but the LeBron section popped: Jeanie privately bristling at his footprint, the Westbrook fallout, even entertaining not extending him—or trading him—then later noting drafting Bronny as a gesture. It reads like years of push-pull over influence and credit.

Here’s where I land: before LeBron arrived, the Lakers spent five straight years in the wilderness; within two, they had a title. He didn’t crash the gates—he chose them—and they still said no to some of his asks and yes to others, so pinning Westbrook solely on him while downplaying the championship and the AD win is revisionist.

Awards time: my MVP five matched the finalists, and I’d go Stafford on top, with McCaffrey on the podium. The offensive player slate even hints voters split the baby—quarterback for MVP, non-quarterback for OPOY.

Coach of the year is a loaded board, but I’d lean Shanahan for holding the one-seed chase together through injuries, while Ben Johnson, Liam Cohen, Mike Vrabel, and Mike Macdonald all have real cases. Assistant of the year, I’d back Josh McDaniels for tailoring the offense to a young quarterback and maxing production.

OPOY for me is McCaffrey with Puka right there. DPOY is a knife fight; comeback goes to Aiden for how far he climbed back, and my rookies would be Tatmik Mellon on offense and the Browns’ standout on defense.

Listener quick hits: calling There Will Be Blood the worst ever while praising the acting and visuals is a contradiction; Herbert isn’t a move-on candidate, whereas Lamar trade chatter exists because of his past standoff; and yes, if the Chargers light it up and Herbert plays well in January, the noise fades.

Like, rate, and subscribe, and be here tomorrow for the gambling show with full conference championship previews.