The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 03/09/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: March 9, 2021

Colin reacts to Dak Prescott signing a record-breaking deal to stay with the Cowboys by giving the positive spin while also revealing the reality of what paying Dak that much money means. He tells you why he's not buying the rumors about Jerry Jones and the reason he decided to overpay for Dak. He also ranks the highest paid quarterbacks in the league right now and where Prescott ranks among them. Plus, he welcomes in Hall of Fame Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson to find out what he thinks about the massive contract and if Dallas should be considered a Super Bowl contender. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

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Mark keep coming to him. He's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. Listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. Gorsha accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They hold and Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has financial issues. On the podcast, Reality with the King, I, Carlos King, recap the biggest moments from your favorite reality shows, including the Real House Wise franchise. the drama, the alliances, and the T, everybody's talking about. To hear this and more, listen to Reality with the King on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to The Best of Heard Podcast. Be sure to catch us live every weekday. From 12 to 3 Eastern, 9 to noon Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and FS1, find your local station for the herd at Fox Sports Radio.com or stream us live every day. on the IHeart Radio app by searching Herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherg on Fox Sports Radio. Tuesday, time to celebrate.

Live in Los Angeles, it's the herd. Wherever you may be, and however, you may mean listening? Iheart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1. We got a lead today. Joy Taylor is joining me. Dak Prescott has a big, juicy new contract. I think it's worth discussing. Well, we've talked about the speculation of it for two years.

I can't. It was like, I don't know what the feeling of relief happy for him and then for us. I'm like, I no longer have to talk about what Dak Pressman's going to make, at least for a while. It's almost like a couple dates forever. And it's like, would you just give her a ring and set a wedding date? That is what it felt like. It was like, you know what, good for him. Finally.

Finally, he asked. It's like we can stop talking about when they're going to get married. That is a perfect analogy for that. So let's start. You know, I like to think of myself as Mr. optimism at the network. So I want to start being positive on the DAC Prescott deal. Number one, the Cowboys are uniquely wealthy.

Attendance, best in the NFL, franchise worth almost $6 billion. They are able to, because of their game day revenues, because of their enormous brand appeal, to write massive guaranteed money checks that a third of the league can't write. Hell, it may be half. And because they can do that and it's such a healthy brand, they gave DAC a boatload of guaranteed money, and that brought his cap down to only $22 million first year,

meaning Dallas gets, in the first of these four years, a little bit of a cap break. That's good news. That means they can spend it on defense, and they should spend every penny of it on defense. The other good news is, They've got two or three good draft picks. If they spend that $15 million on defense and they draft with their first two or three picks defense,

with the addition of Dan Quinn, who I think is going to elevate their scheme defensively, Dallas isn't going to have to win every game 37-34. I think their defense is going to be better. I think they save in year one a little bit of cap space they can spend on defense. Here's more positives. Dax's a grown-up, Dax responsible, he's not going to, you know, go crazy town. He's a grown-up, he's an adult.

This money's not going to do it. You're not going to see him on 4,000 commercials. Dax's a head down, play hard, let's kick-butt guy. Also, the story is over. Dack feels good. Cowboys have to feel somewhat good, and we don't have to talk about it anymore. Here's more positives. Dax's in the second year with Mike McCarthy,

and he gets a pre-season. Generally, a year, two of an offensive. you're better. Here's another positive spin. The best part of Dallas, the very strongest unit's wide receiver. They're good at wide receiver. That complements DAC and the NFL's becoming more passing centric. All positives from Mr. Optimism at Fox Sports, Colin Coward. Now let's pivot into some realistic concerns. I saw this headline this morning. Dak Prescott becomes highest paid player in league history. That is not a recipe for Super Bowls.

We have a recipe for Super Bowls. Young quarterbacks on rookie deals and great quarterbacks on team-friendly deals. Good quarterbacks making great money does not win Super Bowls. Tom Brady's already restructuring his deal again. Now people say, well, the cap's going up. Folks, the cap goes up the last 25 years. It's gone up 24 times. I talked to two general managers this morning.

There'll be no time over the next four years. It'll go up, but it's called escalators. When networks sign these big deals and you see in the blogs and the media critics, Fox goes from paying a billion a year to two billion a year. That's not what we pay for the next two or three years. They're called escalators. We go from paying one to one point three to one point five. to one point. But the time the cap really explodes, this contract's over.

Dax's working on the next contract. So yeah, it's going up, but it doesn't jump up overnight. And I have this theory is that don't compare good and great. Like, I never have had a vacation in my life. A great vacation. I went to Hawaii. I took the kids. We did helicopter tours. We did scuba dive. It was a lot of money. Oh, it's a lot of money. But when I flew back, I was like, worth every penny.

Worth, I paid my daughter to go to, in Connecticut, to go to a junior high private school. I'm not going to tell you what I paid. But it was a great school. I've never once regretted paying great for great. House, education, experience, ski trip, never once. paying great for good I almost always regret it Decks good

Mahomes is great I would never have a problem paying Rogers Russell Mahomes great money because great is a different galaxy than good there's never going to be a time in our lifetime

even if the economy goes up up up up up that paying $10 million for a good house is a steal. Dax contract is never in the next four years going to feel like, who we stole him. Man, this is team friendly. The cowboys right now have seven players who are good, and they pay them great. That's not good.

You also have a coach who's, eh, a jay. a GM who's 78 is your owner. I don't love it. I can be happy for the guy and not think it helps him to win playoff games. Maybe that's not the biggest thing for him, but Dak always feels like a winner to me. He's like Lamar Jackson.

He's visibly angry when he walks off the field with an L. Some guys are into the money. That makes good money. I've never felt he's a money guy. And I don't begrudge anybody who wants to make theirs. But Dallas has one playoff win when they were paying DAC 600,000. A year from now, they're paying him $39.5 million. That is hard.

I don't care how much the cap goes up, but it's not going to go up that much. It is hard to win. We have a resume and a recipe. Rookie contracts for quarterbacks and great guys taking pay cuts. So I gave you positive Uncle Colin. and now I give you realistic Uncle Colin. Dallas now has five players paid in the top five in their position. I don't think any of them are in the top five as talent.

I don't love it. All right. Now let's focus on Jerry Jones. So we talked about Dak. Let's focus on Jerry Jones. And I saw this last night. This was one of the things I kind of, you know, when this stuff happens, I kind of like to just kind of, you know, fish around the inner web.

and see what people are thinking. I got a lot of this. Oh, Jerry, very cunning. He has insight to these new TV deals, and he knows that this is just going to be no problem. Well, Jerry's own the team for 32 years. He's had insight to TV deals the whole time. In 32 years, the Cowboys have been great once,

when Jimmy Johnson called a shot. for football. They have never been great since. This idea that Jerry Jones suddenly has this keen insight to the new TV deals. Well, he had keen insight to the last TV deals. Jerry's one of the most powerful guys in American sports. Did it help him? Did it create a deep, efficient, talented roster with no holes? We got to slow down. I got nothing against Jerry. But Jerry, Jerry's a dealmaker. He's a dealmaker. He loves the rush of the deal. I get it. I mean, anytime you make a big purchase or I've signed a deal, you get that 48-hour rush.

And by the way, I don't think it's coincidental. Nothing happening in sports, NBA All-Star game for two days. And Jerry owns it. Jerry loves the big deal. Don't think he does? When he signed Amari Cooper, at that moment, he was the highest paid wide receiver ever. When he signed Zeke, he was the highest paid running back ever. When he signed DeMarcus Lawrence, he was the highest paid defensive lineman ever.

when he signed Zach Martin, he was the highest paid guard ever. When he signed Tyron Smith, he was the highest paid offensive tackle ever. Jerry loves basking in that. It's a flex for a billionaire for a couple days. But since the last time they won a Super Bowl, Dallas has just four playoff wins. That ranks 13th in the NFC. Okay. So some of it, we concentrate.

traded yesterday on DAC. But this deal was also signed by Jerry. And this is like the sixth player who was signed by Jerry, who became the highest paid player at his position. Let me ask you today, you love any of those contracts? Jalen Smith, Zach Martin, I can kind of live with, but do you like any of them? This franchise has been great once briefly. Jimmy Johnson called all the football shots.

last night Stephen Jones I'm told son of Jerry made multiple calls to Dallas media to sell this new contract Dak crushed and rolled Jerry he got everything he got the money he got the no franchise tag he got the trade clause hell

might as well signed it two years ago it'd be one thing if the contract came out and it was like well dad got some money but a lot of it is based on incentives. Well, he got some guaranteed money, but he had to sign for a fifth year. Well, they can franchise. That got everything. That got everything.

You couldn't have signed that a year ago? Two years ago? You know what it felt like to me? Jerry just wanted to make a big deal and wanted to own American television. Yes and yes. But if you're going to give Dak everything, you should just sign them years ago. What we're always sitting around for? Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio,

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Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano, and our podcast, Point Game is about defying the odds.

Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows. Without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs. I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series

because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night basis on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nash will get that thing. That man, hell get the flying.

He running up the court, licking his fingers why he got the ball, like, after you go through a training camp with that, I said, you figure it out real quick. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, everyone. It's Ryder Strong and Will Ferdell from PodMeets World. And now the Pod Meets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts. I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners

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We'll be recapping the big conclusion in the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of ha who, ha, who, ha, who. Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into Pod Meets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The story I've told myself about love or relationships can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the podcast.

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this podcast is for you to hear more. Listen to deeply well with Debbie Brown from the Black Effect Podcast Network on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Whether you like DAC or not, and he is a franchise quarterback, DAC fans tend to move the goalpost a little bit.

And you've got to be honest about this, If you love this contract, then you love Dack. You've got to be honest and own this. So, Dack, last two years, is one and eight against playoff teams. And his last 60 starts, he's 32 and 28. So the first few years, when Dack was winning, the Cowboys were winning, but he wasn't leading the team. I was lectured. Hey, it's about winning.

It's not about stats. Dack's a winner. All right. I can buy that. And now that he's not beating good teams, hey, look how productive he is. Which one do you want? At $40 million a year, I want both.

I want you to be super productive because that means my wide receivers, my running back, we can win shootouts. You keep moving the goalpost. There's this dueling narrative. Dak is now more efficient. He's more productive. Okay, where are the wins? I'm asking, which one do you think's important?

Because when he won early, but it was Zeke's team, you kept telling me he's a winner. That's what matters. All right. And now he's not winning, but his stats are better. And you're telling me that matters. In his last 17 starts, he's 6 and 11. Well, it's not his fault. Well, then he can't get all the credit for the wins.

Dax also 28. I don't think he's an ascending player. I think this is what he is. He's a good quarterback. Matt Ryan's not an ascending player. Jared Goff's not an ascending player. Like after four or five years in the league, Kyler Murray, I don't even know what his ceiling is.

I mean, he could play. Justin Herbert, Joey Burrow, I have no idea what their ceiling is. Baker Mayfield, he's not an ascending player. This is kind of what he is. So I guess my point is, you got to tell me what matters. Okay. To me, at 40 mil, I'd like both.

I want you to be productive, meaning I can win shootouts. You're making my receivers happy. You're taking advantage of the offensive line giving you time. We can have a bad Sunday on defense, and you're productive as hell, and you can light it up. That's my homes. But I also, at 40 million, want wins over playoff teams. And I just don't see them last two years. As the team has become more DAC led, they win less against good teams.

So you can like DAC, but there's a little hypocrisy. on the, you just tell me which one matters. Because listen, I've said this before. The only numbers that matter on Michael Jordan are six. That's the only stat I know about Michael. Six. Six finals, six wins, six MVPs. I couldn't tell you one Tom Brady stat, one Joe Montana stat.

Not one. I couldn't tell you one Russell-Wilson stat. I can just tell you the Super Bowls. So to me, it's a winning thing. And I think the first argument you had with Dak is he's a winner, I started acknowledging. Yeah, he is. There's certain leadership intangibles. He played well late in games as a young player.

I was like, I can't buy it. But then when he doesn't win, it's like, look at the stats. Well, Kirk Cousins, stats are unbelievable. I don't mean anything to me. He shrinks in prime time. So just if you're a Dack fan, you've got to at least own that space a little. sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. Like as a fan, if players got rich or not, I never cared. You know, I'm never going to meet a player.

So I never care. If guys get rich, fine. I don't care. For me, what I always want my team to have is flexibility. The Patrick Mahomes deal gives Kansas City all sorts of flexibility. They don't pay them huge money until about five years from now. And that's the moment. The cap's going to double from what it is now because the gambling money and the new contract money comes in. So, Dax's contract, 75% of it, year two, three, and four, the cap's not going to go up that much. He's $40 million is going to be a lot of money for a quarterback. But it's interesting. I can think Twitter doesn't allow this, but you can have a brain big enough to think two things at once.

My first thought was yesterday, good for Dack. My second thought was it's going to make him harder. win Super Bowls because we have sort of a recipe for it. Young court. I mean, the reason Baker Mayfield's got such great weapons around him, they don't pay him anything yet. The reason Lamar Jackson, good God, that roster's loaded. I mean, if you look around the NFL, I mean, Buffalo can pay Stefan Diggs. They're not paying Josh Allen anything. Patrick Mahomes next couple of years. That's why that roster is stacked. Tom Brady. Look at that roster. He's taking a pay cut. Whereas Green Bay

can never quite find the money because Aaron takes the full boat. And I'm, listen, DAC, good deal. Cowboys, not that great of a deal. What Dallas is now banking on has never been a strength. What Dallas needs to happen over the next three years is crush the draft and get a bunch of third, fourth, fifth, six round guys that can really play. If you look at Dallas's history, the data points do.

They're very good with their first and second draft. they don't find many gems after that. In the last decade, they found one gem, DAC. That's it. There's teams like Seattle that have lived off that. Kansas City, the Colts, the Saints, they have just mopped up third, fourth, fifth. That's not Dallas's thing.

Dallas tends to do very well on their first couple picks, which, by the way, most teams do. But they don't have a history of finding gems. Dak's the last gem. So, you know, these contracts, I is a fan when I was, now I'm more reporter and opinion guy, and I try to play it straight. But when I was a fan, I just wanted my team to be flexible. I didn't really, I didn't, I don't, you know, if a guy gets rich, he, I don't, I'm never going to meet him.

He's never going to invite me to his house. I'm never going to drive in a car with him. He's never going to invite me on his vacation. I don't care if a guy gets rich. If he does, good, if he doesn't find. But I want flexibility. I don't think Cowboys have much flexibility. I think Mahalm's 12-year deal is much more malleable.

You can, they'll rework that thing multiple times. And you also have to be careful about, oh, the cap is going up. It's not the way it works. I'll just give you an example without getting too boring and complicated. If we pay a billion dollars at Fox for the NFL and we sign an eight to nine, 10 year deal where the average salary is $2.2. We don't pay $2.2 billion for a long time. It's called escalators.

We'll pay $1.3 billion next year. Then $1.5. Then 1.7. By the time DAC's contract is done, that's when the bill. big money pours in and the gambling money pours in. So, you know, the cowboys are going to have to lean in on something they've not been great at, which is crushing the drafts third, fourth, and fifth, and six rounds. That's not what they do. You know, the other thing is, and we just talked about this with Moose Johnson, is, you know, there is this feeling, DAC is the best

quarterback in the division. And this morning, I would agree with you. Daniel, Jones to me. I got to see about, let him play till Thanksgiving, and then I'll make the call. Jalen Hertz, give him the year. I'll make the call. Dak, I know what I'm getting, is the best quarterback. But Joy and I were talking about this this morning. Washington, according to reports from Albert Breer, has been on every quarterback call. They were in on Matt Stafford. They're in on Deshawn Watson. They're in on Darnold. Washington is the most active team in terms of pursuing a quarterback, which means they're probably made calls on Garoppolo and Teddy Bridgewater.

Let me ask you this. If Washington, with what I perceive as a better head coach, a significantly better defense, more franchise momentum, if they signed DeShon Watson in a week, would you feel as good about the DACPrescott contract, then you wouldn't? So what's interesting this morning is I think Philadelphia, is going to finish fourth.

New York's going to have a puncher's chance at third. They're going to be a tough out. I think it's a Dallas-Washington division. I am fascinated by what Washington does at quarterback. Don't forget this. Alex Smith went five and one and wasn't healthy. Taylor Henneke gave Tampa. That was a real game.

I mean, Tampa rolled the chiefs. I didn't roll Washington. So you're looking at a team. If I was just talking to a general manager this morning about this division, And he said, listen, if they get a quarterback that's competent and they shore up their secondary a little, he's like, you don't want any part of Washington. He goes, they got to get their secondary right. And he goes, that defensive front, that front seven is loaded and their offensive lines underrated. And their skill people are underrated.

So, you know, with these, I was just looking this morning at the highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL. And it's interesting when you start looking at them, where to do. is, and I'll do this at the top of the hour, Mahomes, Dak, Deshawn, Russell, Aaron, Jared Goff, cousins, Wentz, Ryan Tannehill. That's the highest paid quarterbacks in the NFL.

But in terms of talent, where would you rank them? Because what you're trying to do in all these leagues, this is the way it works in all these leagues. I always say, pay big money very infrequently. But when you do pay great

money, pay your great players. You just pay LeBron whatever it costs. You pay Steph whatever it costs. You know, in Milwaukee, you got to pay Janus market, whatever it costs. Dallas has a recent history of paying everybody great money. Everybody sets a market record.

None of those deals today in Dallas. None of them look like good deals. Now, I will say this. Dak, because he controls what's becoming a more offensive-driven league, Dax deal, I think, in four years, it's not like I think you're going to just be like, God, I regret that thing.

It's horrible. He's going to be productive. Let's be honest about that. He's not winning a lot of games right now, but he's productive. But if you look at Dallas's history in the history of this league is Dallas's last six or seven big deals,

there's not a single one, not a single one I like. I liked Amari Cooper for about a year. But then when they went and got CD lamps, in fact, I can make the argument that CD Lamb is the only player on the Cowboys roster, they're getting value, where he's way better than his contract. That's not even negotiable.

I mean, CD Lamb is better than what he's getting paid now. I can make an argument. Everybody else on that roster is getting paid what they should or more than they should. I mean, you go look at Tampa, the Super Bowl team. They're getting a discount on Brady. They're not paying Gronk anything. They're not paying A-B anything. I mean, frankly, they're not paying Shaq Barrett much.

They didn't pay in Domicans too much. I mean, they're getting discount. Tampa's getting discounts everywhere. I mean, everywhere. Dallas is getting discounts nowhere except CD Lamb. So they better nail, they better nail the draft for the next two years. You guys like free agency in the NFL draft? Well, guess what?

I have you covered. Three and out. That's my podcast. Go subscribe right now. I'm John Middlethoff. a scout in the NFL. Now I talk about it. Coming up this week, Dak Prescott. Jerry Jones, is he nuts? Was that too much money? Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson. What does that mean for their future contracts? Also, Mack Jones, Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence,

dive into them all, three and out podcasts. Go subscribe. Here's the highest paid quarterbacks now in the NFL. And our television audience will see this and I'll read it for our radio audience. Mahalms 1, DAC2. Deshawn Watson, three, Russell Wilson, four, Aaron Rogers, five, Jared Goffs tied for five, Kirk Cousins seven, Carson Wentz, eight, Matt Ryan nine, and Ryan Tannanahill, 10. So I said, okay, let's take those 10, and who do I think are the most talented? Now, the top of this and the bottom are pretty easy, and then it gets really tight. But here's who I would say.

This is my opinion, if you rank them of the 10 highest paid quarterbacks, Just on talent, what I've seen. Number one's the easiest one, Patrick Mahomes. He's perfect. Great arm, mobile, good kid, coachable, appreciative, grinder. There's no downside. He has, I mean, he's got the highest passer rating in NFL history. He's the youngest quarterback to lead his team to multiple Super Bowl appearances.

This is a once-in-a-generation player. Kansas City will never, ever. get a quarterback that good. That will never happen again. That is Brady to New England. It happens once. Don't try to duplicate it. You're never going to, Tom,

there's never going to be a six-round player like Tom Brady. That is, Mahalms is number one easily. Number two, you can argue, I'd say Aaron Rogers, who I think has the quickest release since Dan Marino. The ball comes out like a seed. It's incredible. He also led the NFL last year in virtually every statistical category. I may have issues sometimes, his personality's a little condescending or prickly, but in the end, again, you know how lucky Green Bay is to go from Farr to Rogers?

That's not the way it works. It's like when the Colts went Peyton Manning to luck. That's not the way it works. Aaron's a remarkable talent. You cross your fingers, he's had a couple injuries, but he's got good four or five years left. Number three, and it's close, I'd say Russell Wilson. To me, he's just a winner. It's not as artistic.

It's not as beautiful as Aaron Rogers. But he's been in the league nine years. He's been to the playoffs eight. First quarterback in history with a winning record in his first nine seasons. He's the ultimate playmaker. Go Hawks. He's pushed back a little in recent years. But I think if you look, Aaron Rogers has had much better offensive lines on average.

Russell's been running for his life for five years. So you could make an argument, Russell's two, because he's had to overcome more, which is bad protection. But these three, I don't have any argument with. And four, I think it's hard to argue, too, would be Deshaun Watson. Listen, man, the guy led the NFL in passing yards. How? They traded DeAndre Hopkins. The offensive line was bad outside of left tackle.

He's just a special player. I don't think he throws a football that's as pretty as Mahomes or as pretty as Aaron. I don't think I mean he's he went four and 12 he's not Russell Wilson in terms of he just doesn't have losing seasons but I think the first four

this is really not really arguable you're just trying to be obnoxious to argue now we go to five now I would put in Carson Wentz and here's why he had a bad year but then I start looking at that nonsense in Philadelphia and I think

okay this who would have won there the other thing is Chris Ballard the Colts Gene is one of the shrewdest guys in the NFL. He doesn't pay big money for anybody, and he went and got him. That tells you, Ballard's a pretty smart cookie. He doesn't want to pay big money.

He's paying big money at quarterback now. By the way, Wence was the first quarterback in league history that had over 20 touchdown passes, seven or fewer interceptions, his first three years in the league. I'd never been done. He is a raw talent. He had a bad year. It happened. Peyton Manning in year four had a bad year.

It happens. Number six, you're going to scoff at this, but we got to reboot how we think about Ryan Tannahill. Folks, not only is he a big, strong mobile guy and had the second highest passer rating in the NFL since becoming a Titan. Second day, like Mahomes, right? The guy led the NFL last year with six fourth quarter and overtime game-winning drives. He's been a really clutch winning quarterback, and he's led his team to the playoffs. So he wins, he's clutch, his passerating is good. You got to take those Adam Gashiers out.

I was never a fan at Tannenhill. Never a fan. But what doesn't he do? He wins, he's clutch, he's mobile, he's productive. By all accounts, he stays out of the news. I'd put him at six. Now we get tight. And you're not going to like seven.

I'd put Matt Ryan. Folks, he's been an MVP. He's been to a Super Bowl. I know he's not much fun to watch. I would argue that. And this is inches not feet. But he has the most passing yards by any quarterback through the first decade of their career than anybody in NFL history. Maddie Ice gives you the same numbers virtually every year.

Atlanta's problem is their defense is horrific. He ain't the issue. So now, again, it gets close now. A lot of people prefer Dak. one playoff win. Man, he's been to a Super Bowl. By the way, it's not like he's ever had, quote, a great coach. His coaches of a bowl has been fired. Dan Quinn got run.

The other defensive guy, he had before him got run. Mike Smith, I think. So it's not like he's had, you know, he had Kyle Shanahan's coordinator, but I would put Matt Ryan, seven. Eight, I would put Dak. Dependable, doesn't throw the prettiest football, but he's only got one playoff win. So he has not been good in the last two years.

against winning teams and playoff teams. He doesn't have a lot of playoff pelts. But I think he's a leader. I think he's liked. I think despite that injury, he's durable. I think in the last couple of years, he's productive. There's just certain things. He's kind of the anti-Baker Mayfield where I just kind of, he'll say the right stuff.

You know, doesn't matter what the controversy is, the loss, the way. Just put him at the podium. just say the right thing. With Baker, if I hold on the Browns, I'd be crossing my fingers. So the other thing about Dak, he had the second-hired highest pass rating by any quarterback in his first five years.

So you generally get a very stable player at quarterback. Next is Jared Goff, who I had much higher years ago, but he's become a turnover machine. I don't think there's much to say here. I think he's going to regress because I don't think he has the coach now. So the offensive line won't be as good. The receivers won't be as good. The coach won't be as good.

and I like Jaron more than everybody else. I always said he was Matt Ryan with a better deep ball. But over the last couple years, he has a turnover issue that you just can't deny. It's gotten bad, and the Rams moved off. And number 10, not a shot, but I think Kirk Cousins has a very low ceiling. I think he's a nice guy. He's productive, but he feels like he always shrinks to me in big games, where I don't think Dak does.

I don't think golf shrinks in big games. I saw Goff out dual Patrick Mahomes in a big game. Goff, you know, he won a playoff game this past year in Seattle, all banged up. So Goff, to me, doesn't shrink in big games. He has a turnover problem. Kirk Cousins, I feel like if I really on a big game, need him to carry us a little, I don't think it's capable. So I showed you the 10 highest paid quarterbacks, the 10 most talented.

And again, every cowboy fan is going to argue on Matt Ryan and Ryan Tannahill, But at some point, I got an MVP with Ryan and a Super Bowl with Ryan, and Kirk Cousins' last two years, he's been great. I don't get it. I never got it. Not a fan of college, not a fan of Miami. But at some point, you've got to be honest about it. Sometimes you have to take an argument and reboot it and go, okay, this is the data. Tana Hill's data in the last two years is great.

He's great. Late. He starts every game. He's mobile. He gets him to the playoffs. He beats good playoff teams. He stays out of the news. There you go.

So again, ideally, you wouldn't want the eighth most talented quarterback to be the second highest paid. That's my takeaway. Ideally, you wouldn't want that. Dax's a little overpaid. Want more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week within the IHeart radio app. Search herd to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Hey, this is Jason McIntyre.

Join me every weekday morning on my podcast, Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre. This isn't your typical sports pod pushing the same tired narratives down your throat every day. Straight Fire gives you honest opinions on all the biggest sports headlines, accurate stats to help you win big at the sports book and all the best guests. Do yourself a favor and listen to Straight Fire with Jason McIntyre on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games.

Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

What's up fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm CJ Toledano and our podcast Point Game is about defining the odds. Like LeBron heading into the playoffs without Luca and Austin Reed. And finding ways to win no matter what. He's the smartest player to ever play the game. His IQ is at a level that we've never seen before. And he knows without Luca and Austin Reeves, I got to manipulate the game. We get a player's perspective on the challenges of the playoffs.

I think Joker's going to be exhausted this series because when they don't have Rudy in the lineup, he has to really guard guys like Nas Reid. He has to guard Julius Randall. And then he has to give us everything he gives us on the night-to-night bases on offense. And when IT's friends stop by, like Quentin Richardson, we dive into some playoff history too. Steve Nass would get that thing. That man, hell get the flying. He run up the court licking his fingers while he got the ball.

Like, after you go through a training camp with that, Isaiah, you figure it out real quick. Oh, yeah. Get your ass up and down the court, and you're going to get the ball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, everyone. It's Ryder Strong and Will Ferdell from PodMeets World. And now the Pod Meets Twirled podcast. We're two men who were completely clueless to reality TV, who now have covered Dancing with the Stars, traitors, and we're gearing up for the season finale of Survivor. So yeah, now we're experts.

I know we annoyed a lot of our listeners by our severe lack of survivor knowledge. That is the point of the show. I'm just going to remind you. I have watched some Survivor. I obviously haven't watched enough. Did people not like it? Yeah. Just because we...

Yeah. We'll be recapping the big conclusion in the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of ha, ooh, ha, ooh, ha, oh, ha, oh.

Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune to Pod Meets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to Pod Meets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Joe Rodano.

You might know me as that loud guy who yells out, help on the internet. Help! Somebody! Please! But there's so much more to me than that. I'm an actor. I'm a comedian. And recently, I've become quite the helper myself. And on my new podcast, Hope from a Hippocrat, I'll be changing lives,

helping people in need with my sage advice and thoughtful solutions. Sike! I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice.

One ring is too scary. Oh, cream a chicken suit. Hey, cream, cream a chicken suit. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know. Listen to Help from Hypocrat as part of the Mike Coutura podcast network available on the I-HartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

One of the greatest football coaches, my life dominated college football with the sorely missed hurricanes. I miss when the hurricanes are great, college football is good. Then he went to the Dallas Cowboys. And in the 32, 33 years, Jerry's own that team, they've been great once when Jimmy had all the football power. Since then, they've been good a few times.

And right now, they made a splashy deal. Dak Prescott now 40 million a year, although this year they get a bit of a cap break. And Jimmy Johnson, Fox Sports, now joining us live, the Hall of Famer. So it's interesting. When Russell Wilson signed that big deal in Seattle, Jimmy, immediately John Snyder and Pete Carroll, they started accumulating draft picks. They knew we got to get a lot of players here that don't make a lot of money. When Aaron signed his deal, Green Bay started moving picks.

If you ran the Cowboys today and the Jones family, said we just paid DAC 40 million on average three of the last four years. Would you look at your number 10 pick and start making deals and try to get more picks? You've got to get some players cheap somehow, you know, because, you know, they've got half a dozen players that are eating up a lot of the cap. And, you know, so you've got to offset that with some players that are inexpensive. And the way you get inexpensive players is you've got to draft well. You've got to hit on your draft picks.

So I think it's going to be critical for them to draft well if they're going to compete. Now, I think they can win the NFC East because you look at the East right now. Really the only other quarterback that's proven, and he's not exactly proven, would be Jones with the Giants. Philadelphia is a mess right now. Washington, who knows, you know, they have, you know, no quarterback situation right now. And so Dallas can win the NFC East, but I don't know if they can go further than that. Yeah.

You know, it's – I said last year, Cleveland had so much of their money on offense that their defense wasn't very good. Dallas has a lot of money on the offensive side of the ball. Zach Martin, Tyron Smith, Dak, Zik Amari. I feel like Dallas now has to really in the next couple drafts, Jimmy, they got to go heavy on defense. I mean, if again, if you were told, here's what I'm paying my quarterback, would you go to your scouting department and say, we're going defense the next couple drafts? Well, you say go defense, but, you know, if Dax's going to have success, they've got to shore up that offensive line. You know, they can't count on Towron Smith and Zach Martin and all those guys being healthy because they weren't healthy this year. They've got the receivers.

They've got as good receiving corps as there as in the league. But you don't know. Is Ezekiel? Is he going to be able to be successful with no offensive line? So I think they've got to get him a couple of offensive linemen as well, just to ensure that what happened last year won't happen this year. But you're right. Other than that, you've got to find some defensive players

and you've got to hit on them in the draft. You know, when you were with Jerry Jones, was he his free spending? It seems to me as he's aged, he kind of got rolled in his car I mean, Dak got everything he wanted. Go back to your years with him. Was he his free spending then? Yeah, Colin, we had the, our first Super Bowl,

we had the lowest paid team in the entire league. Wow. Lowest paid team in the entire NFL. The reason for that is because, you know, most of our, it was the youngest team in the NFL. Both Super Bowls, we were the youngest team in the NFL. Well, if you have the youngest team in the NFL, they're not going to be paid a lot of money.

And so, you know, we didn't, you know, that team wasn't built with free agents. It was built through the draft. And that's why they were good for a long period of time because they were all young players. So he didn't have to spend much money then. We signed, you know, Troy to a contract. But, you know, please, that's piddling money compared to what they make nowadays. So, you know, really it wasn't a problem back then. There's a lot I like about Dak.

I think if I ran a pro sports team, what I try to avoid is paying good players great money. I think he's a good player who just got a great contract. What do you like about Dak and what concerns you all the times you've seen him? I think he's a great leader for the team. I think the team really rallies around him. so he is a positive influence there. He can, you know, before the injury, he could make plays with his legs. You know, he could run the football.

And, you know, he fit into their system. He has had problems at times being inaccurate. But with that receiving core, you know, he gets people open. So I like that, and I'm kind of like you. but I think he can win you a championship if he has great players around him. I don't think Dak can carry your football team if he doesn't have great players around him. Yeah, he has struggled last couple of years against winning teams. Do you think second year with Mike McCarthy, go back to your career?

You know, I mean, obviously Troy struggled first year, got better second. Really, you know, by third year you guys won a lot. do you think it's an advantage getting Mike McCarthy and Dack in their second year? How much of a leap do you think that means? I don't know that it's going to be a huge leap. Because he had his offensive coordinator and playcaller that he's had for the last couple of years. There really wasn't a change there. So I don't know that McCarthy is going to make that big an influence on DAC and that team.

again, because it's not like he was going to a new system. They pretty will do in what they did before McCarthy ever got there. Yeah. When you look at, I mean, Dan Quinn is the new defensive coordinator. I think they'll be better. I think that's an upgrade. But let's be honest. I mean, when you look at that defensive personnel, Jalen Smith's a good player,

but can I make the argument? There's not a lot there. now DeMarcus Lawrence has got a big contract and he's had some good years Jalen Smith there are a lot of complaints

about Smith last year because of being out of position but I think the entire defense was out of position they will be better like you say Quinn will do a much better job with that defense

and plus having an off season putting in the system putting into the system that they are comfortable with so they'll be better defensively And that will help without question. But, you know, a concern that I have is, like, some of their key players were injured last year.

And once a player is starting, you know, starting to have injuries, the percentage of injuries goes up with that particular player. So there's no guarantee some of those key players are going to stay healthy. And, you know, you don't know about Ezekiel either. You know, the, you know, really the career of a running back in this league normally doesn't last real long. That's right. And you start taking a bunch of shots, you know, those running backs start getting hurt. And so what's going to happen there? And so there's still a lot of questions on that football team.

But if they do shore up the defense, they can be better. And like I said, they should win the NFC East. Why do you think it took so long? I looked at the deal and Dak got pretty much everything he wanted. I mean, they could have signed that a year ago. Why do you think they waited? I think because they've got the same feeling that we've got. He's a very good player, but he's surrounded a couple of years ago, surrounded by some great players.

That's when the offensive line was healthy. They had the receivers. Ezekiel had, you know, his best year. And, you know, he struggled when some of those players got hurt. So, you know, they're looking at him. They say, hey, you know, he is a very good player. He's a great leader. He can win a championship as long as we have great players around him.

but is he great? They paid him great money, though. Yeah. Who was the first player? Because you really built the Cowboys up. They weren't squat before you got there. Who was the first player in the NFL that you paid big money to that you agreed to and did you sleep the next night?

How did it land for you? Well, you say they weren't squat. Yeah, they were squat. But they did have three straight losing seasons. and they were three and 13 before we got there. You know, the start, the first big contract we did, you know, was with Troy. And like I said, you know, his money, what, you know, in his career, I think what he made, $55 million or so, you know, Zach's already made that.

Yeah. Or DAC has, you know, and so he was the first big contract. But, you know, because you don't win this league if you don't have a quarterback. And I think that was the problem that Jerry had. he was a little bit between a rock and a hard place. He knew that there's no way you're going to win unless you have a quality quarterback, hopefully a franchise quarterback. And so, you know, it was either, you know, not have a franchise quarterback and have no chance

or pay Dak what he wanted. Yeah. You know, I will say, like you knew when you paid Troy, and I feel this way with Dak, they're adults. You don't have to worry about them getting squirrely. Like the one thing I'll say about DAC is he's a grown-up. I mean, he's, I know tomorrow he's the first guy in the facility. A quality person all the way.

Yeah. Boy, it's just interesting. That's a, Jerry likes his deals. But he paid you pretty well. He paid you pretty well, didn't he? Well, please. Please. Are you kidding me?

He didn't pay a while? I actually, you know, this is crazy. People don't understand this. This is crazy. You know, when I went to the Cowboys, Jerry said, well, hey, I'm going to give you a long-term contract. I'm going to give you a contract. He said, how much should we pay you? I said, just pay me what I made at Miami.

I said, eventually, I'll get my money. But I actually took the same money that I was making at University of Miami my first year. And he said, well, I'm going to give you a 10-year contract. I said, well, you don't have to give me a 10-year contract. I'll be fine. But he gave me a 10-year contract. Now, after, you know, the second year, when it's a 10-year contract, I said, you know, you don't you know, we showed progress.

It looked like we were going to win a bunch of games. We redid the contract. We redid it three or four times. Redid it all the way until I left. So, you know, we worked out the deal, and he paid me some money. But, hey, please, I've made a couple of million dollars. All right. Well, you go, you know, you're out in the keys.

You had to do pretty well with that thing. Maybe it's fought. Hey, hey, Colin, I have made more money in the stock market than I ever made a token. And really, what has allowed me to come to the keys and do what I'm doing, it's because of the stock market, not because of coaching. It is funny to look at those coaching salaries. They're big now, but you go back day. Hey, my wife Rhonda asked me the day says, how much are these coaches making? And I said, you know, what some of them are making.

She said, I knew you should have stayed in coaching. That's funny. The legend, Hall of Famer Jimmy Johnson. Great seeing you, Coach. Thanks so much. You're a busy guy. Appreciate it. All right, Colin.

Talk to you. All right. Take care. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter.

Where does your group perform? We do some retirement home. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up, fam? It's Isaiah Thomas. And I'm C.J. Toledano. It's our favorite time of the year on our podcast point game, the playoffs. We're digging into the biggest surprises of the season. And I'm looking back on some of my greatest playoff moments. If we didn't talk ever again, I was hungry.

You just understood. That's how personal it got. Wow. Then after that game seven, Marquis come until he's like, you know I love you, dog. You know, it's all love. This was just playoffs. This was just basketball. So listen to Point Game on the Iheart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, it's Edwin Castro, also known as Castro 1021. And I'm Conky, his best friend and business manager. And we've got a new show called The 1021 Podcast. I'm taking you behind the scenes on how I became one of Twitch's most popular streamers. We also love sports. And with the World Cup right around the corner, we'll be breaking down the. biggest storylines ahead of the big tournament here in the USA. Listen to the 1021 podcast on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

podcasts. I'm Joey Dardano, and on my new podcast, Hope from a Hypocrite, I'll be changing lives, helping people in need with thoughtful solutions. Sike, I'm a comedian. I'm not qualified to give good advice. Join me and my comedian friends as we riff, rant, recommend some of the most legally dubious advice known to me. This is Help from a Hypocrite, the worst advice from the dumbest people you know.

Listen to Help from a Hypocrite Wednesdays on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed human.