Starkey & Mueller

PM Team FULL Show 7-10-25

Top 25 Penguins since 2000 with special guest, Jeff in South Park! Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo from the PG joined the show. Ray said it’s still status quo with TJ Watt and he wouldn’t be surprised if we see a hold out this time around instead of a hold in like 2021. Ray expects the Steelers to eventually give in to what Watt wants and make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league. Ray said the plan going forward should be to move Watt around on defense and Watt himself acknowledged that. What kind of return would Watt fetch the Steelers in a trade? Ray thinks Saturday night before the season opener would be the deadline for a deal. Total Request Thursday.

Steelers insider Ray Fittipaldo from the PG joined the show. Ray said it’s still status quo with TJ Watt and he wouldn’t be surprised if we see a hold out this time around instead of a hold in like 2021. Ray expects the Steelers to eventually give in to what Watt wants and make him the highest-paid non-quarterback in the league. Ray said the plan going forward should be to move Watt around on defense and Watt himself acknowledged that. What kind of return would Watt fetch the Steelers in a trade? Ray thinks Saturday night before the season opener would be the deadline for a deal.

BREAKING: The Penguins have made a minor trade, acquiring Matt Dumba from the Dallas Stars. Will the Pens make a big trade at some point to dump one of their bad contracts? The discussion turned to baseball and we centered it around Andrew McCutchen, who is apparently ‘untouchable’ at the trade deadline. Cutch has never played in a championship series. Should the Pirates give him that chance? The feeling is surely mutual, but we thought it was bizarre that McCutchen has never gotten a chance to play for the whole thing. Steve Palazzolo from the 33rd Team joined the show. Steve said the trade that landed them Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith made them better, even if Minkah Fitzpatrick was part of that cost. Steve is confident that Ramsey is still a good football player and has better positional value than Fitzpatrick. Steve would still play Ramsey at outside corner, but he has the ability to move around with Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay also on the defense. Steve brought up how Ramsey played safety, nickel c

Steve Palazzolo from the 33rd Team joined the show. Steve said the trade that landed them Jalen Ramsey and Jonnu Smith made them better, even if Minkah Fitzpatrick was part of that cost. Steve is confident that Ramsey is still a good football player and has better positional value than Fitzpatrick. Steve would still play Ramsey at outside corner, but he has the ability to move around with Joey Porter Jr. and Darius Slay also on the defense. Steve brought up how Ramsey played safety, nickel corner and outside corner during his time at Florida State. Steve explained how Smith can work best in the Steelers offense. How many teams would be in the running for TJ Watt if he really is made available? Steve still thinks Myles Garrett is a better player than Watt and he came with an explanation.

BREAKING: The Penguins have made a minor trade, acquiring Matt Dumba from the Dallas Stars. Will the Pens make a big trade at some point to dump one of their bad contracts?

What could a TJ Watt contract look like? Is he bound to be the highest-paid non-QB in the league? It could have a lot to do with the guarantees in the deal. Poni suggested a deal that would net Watt $42M/year with 3 of the 4 years being fully guaranteed. He said he would not give him that deal. KDKA TV’s Bob Pompeani joined the show. Poni asked Pomp about the Paul Skenes speculation put out there by Noah Hiles and if his time is really numbered here. The conversation shifted to TJ Watt and what a deal for him could look like. Pomp said the Steelers missed the boat on getting Watt on the cheap because they always wait until a certain time before working on contracts. Where does Pomp think Antonio Brown ranks among Steelers since 2000? Power Rankings.

KDKA TV’s Bob Pompeani joined the show. Poni asked Pomp about the Paul Skenes speculation put out there by Noah Hiles and if his time is really numbered here. The conversation shifted to TJ Watt and what a deal for him could look like. Pomp said the Steelers missed the boat on getting Watt on the cheap because they always wait until a certain time before working on contracts. Where does Pomp think Antonio Brown ranks among Steelers since 2000?

What could a TJ Watt contract look like? Is he bound to be the highest-paid non-QB in the league? It could have a lot to do with the guarantees in the deal. Poni suggested a deal that would net Watt $42M/year with 3 of the 4 years being fully guaranteed. He said he would not give him that deal.

Could next season be the final one for Paul Skenes with the Pirates? A story from Noah Hiles suggested that it could be. It wasn’t a report from Noah, just his prediction of how things could end for Skenes in Pittsburgh. How does that make you feel as a Pirates fan? It feels like they are already waving the white flag on this guy who they drafted just 2 years ago. Can the Pirates do anything about it? GIVEAWAY. PG columnist Jason Mackey joined the show. Jason disagreed with Noah and said he thinks Paul Skenes will still be here for multiple seasons because he doesn’t see the team moving off from him ‘that soon.’ Jason is under the impression that Ben Cherington will run the deadline and the draft before he is let go later in the season. Will Cherington make some sort of Hail Mary trade?

PG columnist Jason Mackey joined the show. Jason disagreed with Noah and said he thinks Paul Skenes will still be here for multiple seasons because he doesn’t see the team moving off from him ‘that soon.’ Jason is under the impression that Ben Cherington will run the deadline and the draft before he is let go later in the season. Will Cherington make some sort of Hail Mary trade?

Could next season be the final one for Paul Skenes with the Pirates? A story from Noah Hiles suggested that it could be. It wasn’t a report from Noah, just his prediction of how things could end for Skenes in Pittsburgh. How does that make you feel as a Pirates fan? It feels like they are already waving the white flag on this guy who they drafted just 2 years ago. Can the Pirates do anything about it?

PM Team FULL Show 7-9-25

Top 25 Steelers since 2000. Judge Donny.

Top 25 Steelers since 2000.

Patrick Rooney Jr., a member of the Rooney family, said it would be ‘insane’ to give TJ Watt big money right now. Is it a nothing-burger or is there something there? He may not be as close to the family as other members, but he had several critiques of the team at-large. And he’s certainly not a fan of Aaron Rodgers or how his family has built the current team. ALL ACCESS w/ Aditi – Aditi reacted to Patrick Rooney calling out the Steelers and their way of business. One of the things he said was the ‘insane’ idea of paying TJ Watt. Can Watt accept his poor play from the end of last season and how can that impact his negotiations? Aditi said Watt is putting a plan together for a bounce back in 2025. She indicated that Watt hears the critics. Who does Aditi think is the best Steeler of the last 25 years? She thinks Troy Polamalu makes quite the case. Donny Football Debrief – Our friends in Cleveland had something to say to Poni.

ALL ACCESS w/ Aditi – Aditi reacted to Patrick Rooney calling out the Steelers and their way of business. One of the things he said was the ‘insane’ idea of paying TJ Watt. Can Watt accept his poor play from the end of last season and how can that impact his negotiations? Aditi said Watt is putting a plan together for a bounce back in 2025. She indicated that Watt hears the critics. Who does Aditi think is the best Steeler of the last 25 years? She thinks Troy Polamalu makes quite the case.

Patrick Rooney Jr., a member of the Rooney family, said it would be ‘insane’ to give TJ Watt big money right now. Is it a nothing-burger or is there something there? He may not be as close to the family as other members, but he had several critiques of the team at-large. And he’s certainly not a fan of Aaron Rodgers or how his family has built the current team.

Another edge rusher debate to get us going. According to ESPN, the GMs, coaches, scouts, etc. around the league have rated Myles Garrett over TJ Watt. We can say Watt has had a better career than Garrett to this point, but who is going to have the better end to their career? GIVEAWAY. Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk joined the show. Poni threw the red meat topic to Mike that someone in the Rooney family went on a podcast and said it would be ‘insane’ to sign TJ Watt to an extension. Mike wondered if the rubber was really going to meet the road with Watt and the Steelers. Mike still thinks Watt will take what the Steelers best offer is and it could be $36M/year instead of $40M/year. What would the guarantees look like? Mike said players care most about APY above all else instead of the structure of the full deal. If a trade were to take place, what does Mike think that could look like? Mike thinks, at minimum, the deal would require a 1st round pick back to the Steelers. Mike wondered how things would l

Mike Florio from Pro Football Talk joined the show. Poni threw the red meat topic to Mike that someone in the Rooney family went on a podcast and said it would be ‘insane’ to sign TJ Watt to an extension. Mike wondered if the rubber was really going to meet the road with Watt and the Steelers. Mike still thinks Watt will take what the Steelers best offer is and it could be $36M/year instead of $40M/year. What would the guarantees look like? Mike said players care most about APY above all else instead of the structure of the full deal. If a trade were to take place, what does Mike think that could look like? Mike thinks, at minimum, the deal would require a 1st round pick back to the Steelers. Mike wondered how things would look if Watt was a lifetime Brown and Myles Garrett was a lifetime Steeler. Mike indicated that he would rank Ben Roethlisberger #1 on a list of best Steelers since 2000.