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Buy or sell their offseasons: Playoff hopefuls
01:20:50|OK, this is where the Buy or Sell Their Offseasons series gets really good. We've reached the portion of the proceedings where every team in an episode enters the 2026 season harboring real playoff hopes. The eight teams in this episode aren't the upper-crust Super Bowl contenders, but that doesn't mean that one of them can't punch through and put find themselves in Los Angeles next February. These teams, then, are what we're calling Playoff Fodder. As it stands in mid-May, they're teams that have every right to believe they'll be in the postseason, but remain a step or two away from the Lombardi Trophy. Those teams are the...Bears, Jaguars, Cowboys, Texans, Broncos, Lions, Packers and Eagles.Host: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC
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The sneaky offseason additions shaping the 2026 NFL season
01:00:51|Sure, Dexter Lawrence got traded to the Cincinnati Bengals. Yeah, Kenneth Walker III signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. Okay, Mike Evans left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the San Francisco 49ers. Who the hell cares?! We’re getting into the sneaky additions that will shape the upcoming NFL season on today’s episode of The Athletic Football Show.Host: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC
Position groups that got a facelift in 2026
01:08:39|In a league with as much turnover as the NFL, teams are always going to look different from season to season. What's striking, though, is when a team completely remakes a single position group in one offseason. Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen and Dave Helman dive into those rooms on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Host: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC
Which NFL division has the best quarterbacks in 2026?
48:34|It's Mailbag Monday, we're in May, and the questions are only getting goofier. This week, the guys discuss which divisions have the best of each position group, ask themselves how we should think about o-line prospects, whether the Cleveland Browns and New York Jets have a chance at a title, and much more. Robert Mays, Derrik Klassen, and Dave Helman answer all your questions.Host: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC
Revisiting our coldest takes from the 2025 NFL season
01:08:51|Picture this: you're in the warm air of the offseason, you're listening to players talk about how they're in the "best shape of their life," you're watching training camp highlights set to instrumental rock music. It's easy to get carried away with your NFL takes in that environment - and get carried away, we did. Robert Mays, Dave Helman, and Derrik Klassen revisit their coldest takes of the 2025 NFL season on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Host: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Derrik on Bluesky: @qbklass.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC
Is the fifth-year option still a viable option for team building?
57:13|The 2023 Draft class is proving to be a conundrum at the fifth-year option milestone. Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, and Bijan Robinson highlight some of the players with exercised options. But why did the Detroit Lions choose not to exercise Jack Campbell's option? And what can the NFL's decisions around this class tell us about the state of fifth-year options as a whole? Robert Mays and Dave Helman discuss some of the key names and teams on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Host: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC
Buy or sell their offseasons: The Middle Class
01:24:10|Our Buy or Sell Their Offseasons series moves on to The Middle Class, which features a couple of playoff teams from last season. Those teams, the Panthers and Steelers, are outside of the top two groups of teams for understandable reasons. They're joined here by the Saints, Commanders, Colts, Vikings, Buccaneers and Bengals. Did those eight teams do well for themselves during the player-acquisition period over the last three months? Robert Mays and Dave Helman make buy-or-sell calls on all eight of them on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Host: Robert MaysCo-Hosts: Derrik Klassen and Dave HelmanExecutive Producer: Michael BellerSenior Producer: Katy DuffySocial Producer: Scott KrinchFollow Robert on Bluesky: @robertmays.bsky.socialFollow Dave on Bluesky: @davehelman.bsky.socialFollow Robert on X: @RobertMaysFollow Dave on X: @DaveHelman_Theme song: HauntedWritten by Dylan Slocum, Trevor Dietrich, Ruben Duarte, Kyle McAulay, and Meredith VanWoert / Performed by Spanish Love SongsCourtesy of Pure Noise / By arrangement with Bank Robber Music, LLC