The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 03/09/2021 - HOUR 2 - Top 10

Episode Date: March 9, 2021

Colin discusses the 10 highest paid quarterbacksHow Dak's deal will effect other QBs in the leagueGuest: Jane Slater Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Joy Taylor is joining me. A lot of DAC today. We don't lie. On days like this, DAC's the tree, and we just build branches off it. You know, we've got a lot of DAC angles, a lot of DAC stories. I mean, we were joking this morning. This is two of the quietest days of the year in America. in sports are the two days after the NBA All-Star game.

There's no games. There's nothing going on. And I don't think it's coincidental. Jerry then owns the world. I mean, Jerry is very calculated. If you look at when he signed the big contracts, there's usually a lull in the sports world, and Jerry kind of owns it.

Listen, he likes his Dallas Cowboys being talked about. I don't know that this is a Jerry story, and as much as it's a Dak and a cowboy story, it still benefits him because, I mean, Dak got everything you wanted. Everything. Everything. I got the guaranteed money, the money, the no trade clause, the years.

What are I missing? I mean, if you, if literally you were getting a divorce and it went for three years and then at the end, he or she got everything, you'd be like, well, what's the point? Why make attorneys rich? It just should have settled. Exactly. Just settle. Like you're not winning anything. You didn't get anything you wanted.

Like you did, Dad got everything, which God love him. But why'd you wait two years if he was going to get everything? I don't know. All right, so 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. Mahomes 1, DAC 2, Deshawn Watson 3, Russell Wilson, 4, Aaron Rogers 5, Jared Goff's tied for 5. Kirk Cousins 7, Carson Wentz, 8, Matt Ryan 9, and Ryan Tannenhill 10. So I said, okay, let's take those 10.

And who do I think are the most talented? 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 ranked 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 is, I mean, he's got the highest passer rating in NFL history. 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, they're 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 personalities a little condescending or prickly. But in the end, again, you know how lucky Green Bay is to go from Fav 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 too, 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 Deshawn 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 Wenton, 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 GM, is one of the shrewdest guys in the NFL. He doesn't pay big money for anybody, and he went and got him. And 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, Wents 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. Payton Manning and 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

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 pass rating is good. You've got to take those Adam Gayshears out. I was never a fan at Tannihill, never a fan, but what doesn't he do? He wins, he's clutch, he's mobile, he's productive. By all counts 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 is, 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. Dax's got 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 coach's a little 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 DAC. 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 of it just put him at the podium he'll 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 highest pass rating by any quarterback in his first five years so you generally get a very stable player at quarterback next is Jared

golf, 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 Dack does. I don't think Gough shrinks in big games. I saw Gough out-Doole Patrick Mahomes in a big game. You know, he won a playoff game this past year in Seattle, all banged up. So Gough, 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 Tannihill. 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. Sometimes you have to take an argument and reboot it and go, okay, this is the data. Tana Hill's dad of 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. But that.

That's also the market. Yeah, I mean, I'm not, I'm not, listen, the market is, this happens. It is what it is. We freaked out with Jared Goff's contract. Yeah, and, and I think everybody liked it for a year. It's funny about, like, Dax, I think Dax contract, I think for the first year, we're not going to talk much about it because the defense is going to get better. It's a bad division.

And he was going to get 37 this year anyway, if they franchise that. So I think for the first year, I mean, it's, If you told me this morning, Dallas is going to go 9 and 7. That feels right. The defense is going to be better. They're going to take their draft this year. They're going to go mostly defense. The 15 million they save on him.

They're going to go deep. They're going to be better than they were last year. They had backup quarterbacks for half the season. Yeah. And by the way, it was Mike McCarthy. Nobody bought in until about week seven. So they're going to be a better football. I don't think anybody will talk about his deal year one.

But I also people say, well, they're getting a cap break in year one. Yeah, but they're not a Super Bowl team. They're not. That $15 million doesn't change them as dramatically as it needs to be. I mean, if you told me right now, the teams in the Super Bowl bubble, Dallas doesn't even come to mind. I mean, there's, I don't even put Seattle in my top eight, and I think they're better with a Super Bowl winning coach, with a better coach, a better general manager, and frankly, at the end of last year, a better defense. So Jane Slater is going to stop by, Jimmy Johnson, too. It was fun.

Everybody's going crazy yesterday. It was so funny. When the story first came out, I had just taken a killer nap. Love this. Oh, that's fantastic. You got to live in a hotel. You got to take advantage of the quiet in a hotel. You know, hotels are dead, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

Oh, sure. Friday nights at this hotel. Not a good... No, people go to hotels to party. But Monday through Thursday, that things have... It's a cave? Oh, it's unbelievable. So I woke up from a nap and I saw the DAC deal.

And I thought to myself, oh, this is one of those fake blue check things. Because I'm like, you got to be kidding me. Right. It felt like it was never going to happen. And then it happens and he gets everything. So the first story I read, I'm like, we got everything. That Jerry Caved on Aiding, get everything. And he got everything.

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You know, it's interesting. When Dak signed his contract, I saw a lot of people saying, oh, my gosh, what's Josh Allen going to make and what's Lamar Jackson going to make? But every player is different. So Patrick Mahomes signed a very team-friendly deal. Why? My guess is Patrick Mahomes viewed himself as an all-time talent and thought to himself, I saw what Brady did. I want to get the 10 Super Bowls and win five. So Mahomes did not take the most money.

Because my belief is Patrick Mahomes views himself. He has so much confidence. And you can tell Patrick Mahomes has like inner confidence, not fake confidence. You know, I mean, he's not one of these guys that needs to be accepted on the internet. But Patrick Mahomes could have taken the biggest deal ever. And he's like, no, I'm going to take a team friendly deal. Because he viewed himself with Andy Reed and those weapons. as we're going to do this about seven different times.

Now, Kirk Cousins, you know what you are, knows he's not Brady or Mahomes. Kirk Cousins, I'm taking everything. And that's how he views it. I'm taking everything on the market, which means I can't get surrounded by as much, which means I can't beat good teams, which is now Kirk Cousins' career. So the idea that, you know, a prime example is Lamar Jackson. Lamar is very competitive. like gets like angry.

There's a rage when he struggles in a game. To me, Lamar Jackson's about the Ws. He wants to win games. I could see Lamar Jackson saying, I've got a great coach. I want to keep getting better and I want to win games. I'm not going to take every penny offered.

I can see Lamar Jackson doing that. He feels like to me a winning player. And that's not a knock at DAC. But, you know, Dak probably says, a guy made nothing for all these years. I'm going to belly up to the financial bar. But the idea that every player views it the same, every person doesn't view anything the same.

So, you know, it's, I could see Lamar Jackson signing a very friendly team deal because he's tired of hearing how he can't win in the playoffs. And he's done. I mean, he's going to get rich either way. Is he going to get super rich or by $100 million? yacht rich. Lamar's going to get rich. But I could see Lamar's internalizing saying, I am so over hearing I can't win in the playoffs,

I'm going to take a little less so I can have better players in playoff games. I could see that. I could totally see that. Or I could see Josh Allen saying, man, Stefan Diggs. It's fun to play with Stefan Diggs. What if I had two Stefan Diggs? I'll take a little less. I mean, seriously.

I mean, you look. Tom Brady having all those wide receivers, Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson may look at that and think, damn, could I get Mike Evans and Chris Godwin? Just take like $4 million less a year or whatever it is. You don't know how these young guys react to this stuff. But Josh Allen literally went from kind of okay to superstar. Why? Stefan Diggs. And then he watches Tom and the Super Bowl.

He's got like three Stefan Dicks. You don't think Josh Allen goes, I got a great coach. If I just take a little less, we can always be viable in the free agent market? I absolutely think. Now, Aaron Rogers, by the way, I don't blame Aaron Rogers for taking big money. I'll tell you why. Because Green Bay historically doesn't land free agents. So Aaron's thinking the hell.

We're not getting Stefan Diggs anyway. Like, they don't get free agents. So he's like, we build through the draft. Green Bay tends to be built through the draft. Don't get free agents. Develop players. And Aaron's saying, I'm going to take pay cuts. We're never going to land these free agents anyway.

They don't want to go play in Green Bay. So maybe that's how he views it. But I don't think there's a guarantee that every player is just going to say, give you this, this, this. It just, what matters to you? I mean, DAC could very well be thinking, you guys didn't pay me for four years. I'm the quarterback of America's team.

I was getting you to playoff games. I was winning the division. And I was making less than talk show hosts in some cities. I could see him saying, I'll give you a cut in four years. But for the next four, I'm going to get mine. I get it. Everybody sees it different. I don't think every player is going to say, back up the Brinks truck.

Mahomes could have. He didn't. Because he saw, I can win six of these. I think of an all-time. great. And also Kansas City, you know, every player that's ever played in Kansas City loves Kansas City. They get free agents. It's a great NFL town. They've gone out in my life. They've landed all sorts of great coaches, great quarterbacks, great free agents. And maybe Mahomes is like, hey, we have a history of landing big stars. I'll take a little less and get stars. Also, maybe

Mahomes looks at it and thinks to himself. He came into the league with all these great skill people. He's probably like, it's way more fun when Sammy Watkins is my fourth target. He may have just looked at it and said, this is fun. I'd rather have, I mean, by the way, why did they get blown out in the Super Bowl? Because his left tackle got hurt. So Mahomes had looked at that thing and I need left tackles. I couldn't score a touchdown in the Super Bowl. So everybody views it differently.

Joy with the News. No, no, no, no, no. Turn on the news. This is the herd line news. Well, Jack finally got his long-term contract with the Cowboys, four years, $160 million deal. To be honest, I did not think this was going to happen. I got to the point where it was just going to go on forever,

and he's never going to actually sign a long-term deal with the Cowboys. You know, after today, well, maybe tomorrow we'll do a little more. But we basically, we took that sponge, and we just rang it out for years. We're done with this story. Isn't that amazing? By the end of tomorrow's show, we're probably officially done with it. Do you remember? Do you remember?

I think it was, it would have been last year, like, maybe a year and a half ago. And you were like, I declare, I am not talking about that contract anymore. I was like, I don't know. I think you're probably going to have to. But it was finally signs. And after the news broke, his brother Tad showed a photo of them celebrating with a big hug. And added the caption, when your little brother gets the call, let's go, Dak. Time to win the Cowboys a Super Bowl.

That's an emotional picture. I love it. That is a good. That is a good hug. That was a double, a double arm hug. The tuck under the shoulder, you want to feel the embrace. I like this picture, and I like that he tweeted this, because this does put everything into perspective for the fact that

that DAC is a human being. This is what he does for a living. We all have jobs. Dream came true. Dream came true. He held strong. He did what everyone, like everyone in the business was telling him just take a deal, take less money, and he got everything that he wanted in the contract.

I'm surprised that he was able to get it. surprised that he was able to get it done with the cowboys. I always knew Jack was going to get paid. Yeah. But I didn't know that the cowboys were ever going to budge because it went on for so long. It's like, what are the, what are the cowboys really trying to do here? Like, what are they going to do without Dak also? Well, that's why when I woke up from my nap and saw the story, I thought it was fake.

Yeah. When I saw the numbers, I thought, okay, this is one of those fake glazer, fake shifty, somebody trying to pretend their Jake Glazer. Someone retweeted a meme account and it went viral. Yeah, I mean, I thought, okay, it's one of these people. trying to be a fake reporter because I thought he got everything. The first story I read, I'm like, he got everything. He got the years, the money, the guaranteed everything.

Good for him. And I think that the Cowboys, while there's all this talk about what they're going to do with the defense and, you know, how do they get better, their offensive line ranks 27th by pro football focused last year. 27. So they're living off reputation. When we think of the Dallas Offensive Line, we still, some of us still think of them as that unit that was in place when Dak was a rookie and Zeke was a rookie.

Not so anymore. So that's really the unit that needs to be focused on by the Dallas Cowboys is offseason. Yeah, I mean, the best offensive line is the Colts. Cleveland's probably, in my opinion, second. Green Bay is up there. Green Bay, yeah, Green Bay, they always have a good old line. I think New England's O' line. They're young in a couple spots.

I think New England's O'Line is pretty good. I think the Raiders is underrated. I think when it's healthy, Kansas City with Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher is really good. But Dallas is not, I don't think Dallas is near the top five anymore. I mean, football focus has them 27th. Like they're very far down. They're one of the worst in the league, actually. And that's something that the Cowboys need to focus on.

A lot of people don't feel like DAC is over the top talented to deserve this money. And what's happened with Zeke? It's very easy. Pay attention to the offensive line. That's why Russell Wilson is such a unique situation. It's difficult for quarterbacks to have success when they're, of a bad offensive line. It's almost impossible.

Andrew Locke. Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league and couldn't get anything done in the Super Bowl because his offensive line wasn't intact. That's exactly what happened. That's been, I mean, that tells you everything. Patrick Mahomes couldn't score a touchdown on the Super Bowl because they were missing a good, not a superstar left tackle,

a good left tackle. That tells you about what you need in this league. And it should tell you that Dak does have the ability to win and play at a high level in this league, but he can't do it. He can't do what Russell Wilson does. And Russell Wilson can't even do what Russell Wilson does. It's funny Russell Wilson is upset.

He wants an offensive line too. So Carson Lentz is getting a fresh start with the Colts this year, who have a great offensive line. He's already familiar with his new coach, Frank Wright, from their long time together, well, from their time together in Philly. And his former teammates, Jason Peters, thinks that teaming up with Reich again is exactly what Wentz needs to get back to his MVP level of play.

One thing I do know about Frank. He's going to put Carson in the best position. He's not going to let him just go out there, have bad mechanics, or just go out there and throw bad balls. I think Frank going to bring the best out of Carson, because I've seen it when he was on a Super Bowl run. You know, them two that was great together, and that's a good fit for Carson, I think.

He's going to get back to his MVP caliber of play. weren't you and I both shocked how good Philip Rivers was last year? Yes. Not to me. So my takeaway is Philip Rivers, who was so slow, he quit. He retired. He loves football. He's like, okay, I'm done. When 11 and 5. I mean, so between Reich and that offensive line, it is mystifying to me how many people are like, oh, I don't know if it's going to work. It's going to work. No, I think it's going to work.

How much? How much? And I think it's on, I think it's on Carson Wentz. All the pressure is on Carson Wentz. You have everything that you need now to be successful. It's not a dysfunctional situation. You have Frank Wright. You're comfortable with him. You have a great offensive line. I just, this idea that Carson, no one has ever gotten more credit for for winning an MVP that they didn't win. Like everyone harkens back to this season. Like Carson Wentz was the runaway MVP through 13 games. Tom Brady won the MVP that season. His numbers were better through 13 games than Carson Wentz in every statistical category. Not every statistical category, but like, had better completion percentage, more yards. He didn't have

as many touchdowns, 27 touchdowns of six interceptions and a higher pass rating through 13 games. did. So this, this, like, elevation of Carson Wentz to, like, as if he won the MVP. He did not. He did not. Tom Brady won it and had better numbers to 13 games. And I think that this is the moment that Carson Wentz has to prove that he is, like, you just listed, he's more talented than these other guys than Dak, then Matt Ryan, then Kirk Cousins, and Ryan's Hanahill. Go do it. Yeah. I want to see what happens now. Yeah. I mean, he had a really bad year. I'm giving him a chaos pass. But listen, there's no excuses. I mean, that offense has a star back now, Jonathan Taylor, great old line.

Wide receivers. Yeah, Michael Pittman ended up being a star. Maybe they need a tight end, but if you can't, and that division's kooky. It's not like it's not a winnable division. I don't have to face Rogers or Mahomes. Nobody besides Tampa Bay and Kansas City has pretty much everything. Yeah. Those two teams, well, and Tampa Bay might not this year because they have a lot of free agents to sign.

So Joe Burrow looked great in his rookie year before suffering a season. ending knee injury in week 11. The Bengals are very confident they have their franchise quarterback, as they should be. And director of player personnel, Duke Tobin, is working to bring in players to support Burrow going forward. He said, I think we have one of the premier best young quarterbacks in the game, and we're going to do everything we can to build around him. It's going to start with him. I like their receivers.

I'd go old line again. They have the fifth pick in the draft, and they have $41 million in Calf Space, which is the fifth most in the NFL. So Jonah Williams is a good old line. men, go get, I would go get the kid from Northwestern Slater that can, why am I forgetting his name? Rishon Slater, he can do guard or tackle. So I, and to me, this league isn't complicated, find a quarterback, protect quarterback, draft guys who can get their quarterback.

So I would go back to the O&L. I like their receivers, actually. You really like the Bengals next year. For the first time in my life, somebody is going to shock us in the league next year. Every year it happens. Okay. You tell me the team.

I don't know that I'm ready to dip my toe in the Bengals water. I love Joe Burrow. Love Joe Burrow before the draft. Team Joe Burrow 100%. Okay. They have the fifth pick in the draft. They have the 30th ranked offensive line according to pro football focus last year. And he was sacked 32 times as the third most in the NFL through week 11.

So obviously the offensive line is the number one priority for this. Cincinnati Bengals. Sign a veteran offensive lineman that's available, draft them. That should be your focus. Because you are still a few years away from actually contending. The only reason why I have hesitation other than all the work I have to do on the offensive line is that division is so tough. Baker Mayfield, another year with Kevin Stavansky, bringing back essentially the same team.

I don't know what the Steelers are going to do. I don't have a lot of confidence in them, but they did win the division last year with Ben Rothersberger. And then you have the Ravens. So I look at the division first when I start talking about what team is going to surprise us, and that's the only thing that gives us the station. That's going to be one of those dorky things on Twitter where you have those polls. I want to do that this week.

Which do you think will surprise you? Well, somebody's going to shock us. Okay, so who's it going to be? Well, okay, so what's shock? They didn't make the playoffs last year and they will this year? Yeah, like. So I think Arizona. But they were eight and eight.

But they didn't make the playoffs. That doesn't feel shocking. That feels improving. Okay. So it's got to be, they were not. That's your home assignment tomorrow. Okay. Who's, I, Cincinnati is my early leader in the, oh my God, they made the playoff.

No. You think this is, the Bengals are going to make the playoffs? I think if they shore up the offensive line. When I watched that shootout with Cleveland, I sat there and I was like, holy crap. They just got to protect this kid. Everybody, everybody's like, oh, Cleveland won. Cleveland's sure they got way better players. When I watched that shootout against, I sat and watched that whole thing.

I was just like, oh, my God. By the way, they blew out Tennessee. They had these moments last year. You were like, they had moments. They don't have any players. How are they doing this? I want to see what they do in the offseason because they do have a lot of cap space. If they're aggressive and bring in a couple veterans, I got to think about it.

Give me some homework time. Joy with the news. Well, that's the news. And thanks for stopping by. The Heard Line News. It is interesting. There were two stories yesterday in the last couple days that I think have changed. the top of the draft. One is Jalen Hertz. The owner for the Eagles said he's our guy.

So Philadelphia is not taking a quarterback at six. That's the right move in my opinion. A lot of people had them taking a quarterback. They'll take a receiver. The second thing is Dax's contract to me, Dallas now has to go defense because they got too much money on offense. You don't, you don't like you get into a problem in this league when you got, like Cleveland's got all their money on offense, Cleveland's defense stinks. You want to balance it out, right? Dallas, remember, when Russell Wilson signed that big deal in Seattle, Seattle suddenly started trading down and getting more picks. When Aaron Rogers signed that big deal in Green Bay, they went and got more picks.

Will Jerry move down in the draft? That is not his history. He doesn't like moving it down. He wants to be up top of the draft or make a splash. But Dallas needs defense. Dak now, that means Amari's getting paid. Tyron. Zach Martin.

Zeke, Amari. You don't want to be Cleveland where you're in shootouts every week. If I'm Dallas, that 10th pick, is it 10, I would consider trading down. The other thing that benefits Dallas, the top 10 to 15

picks in this draft are mostly offensive stars. It's a great quarterback draft, a receiver draft, and an offensive line draft. So Dallas, where this draft has good defensive players, late first, second, and third. You can get great defensive players. The stars of this draft are all on offense.

Okay, Dallas is at 10. They can get who they want on defense at 20 and below. Then that's when you get into the second, third, third, fourth best corner, second best linebacker, third, fourth best edge rusher. That's what Dallas needs. So to me, I look at this and I think, Jalen Hurts story and Dax contract story, I'm Dallas, what you need right now, you need to get better and inexpensive on defense. You've got to get better on that side of the ball. So Jane Slater's around the corner. We'll talk about that. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific on Fox Sports Radio, FS1 and the IHeart Radio app.

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.

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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 first, 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 run up the court,

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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 Hypocrite, 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 and recommend some of the most legally dubious advice. into man. If I'm calling you, even if you're on your phone, let it ring twice. One ring is too scary. Oh, cream of 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 Hypocrite as part of the Mike Cultura Podcast Network available on the I-Hart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Reporter for the NFL Network cover the Cowboys for a long time. Has the boys and Girls podcast, Iheart Radio. Got about eight minutes here. I want to get to it with Jane Slater, covering the Cowboys. All right, let's, I was taking a nap. I woke up. I went to my phone and thought, okay, this is fake. Dak got everything you wanted. Everything. So how did it come together? You just tell me, how did it come together? Yeah, I think we're going to have more definitive answers tomorrow. And hello, Joy, hello, Colin. When Dak Prescott is actually supposed to and is expected to have a

press conference tomorrow, I've still got questions, quite frankly. You know, I had reported last week that the tone felt better this year. The two sides were actually talking, which was meaningful. And it was encouraging that he was rehabbing nearly every single day at the facility. So it couldn't have been that bad. You know, if you're worried about running into your owners that you feel are so disrespectful or are going to tag you for another year, you can rehab other places. So that felt meaningful.

Yeah. And then we got to Monday. I checked in a couple of times. Still nothing got done. But I was told this was very much Stephen heavily. involved with Todd France trying to get this thing done. Jerry Jones did get involved at one point to what extent I don't know, but this thing finally got wrapped around the four o'clock hour. So that's how quick it happened. So, you know, there was a Russell Wilson, a little insert here

a couple days ago. Did that, did you buy any of that stuff? Well, it was so funny that everybody ran with it. Of course, it's the offseason. Of course, it's reported that Russell would entertain a trade to Dallas. There was never anything meaning. about that. And when I reached out to my people, they considered it laughable. And that was because they've been all in on trying to get Dak Prescott here. They wouldn't have used the costly exclusive tag last year. They wouldn't have been moving towards a tag if they couldn't get this done. This was their guy. Now, I think that they realized that they had been doing the stare down contest with Todd France. And I don't know this for a fact. But I think just the psychology of it all,

Jerry Jones has been a guy that's always bet on himself, and I've got to think he respected the way that Dak Prescott not only bet on himself, but continued to do things the right way. He didn't hold out. He showed up to the facility, with the exception of not participating in OTAs, virtual at the time. He still had guys working out on his football field, getting ready for the football season,

and you got the sense that Dak Prescott wanted to be part of the Cowboys. The Cowboys have learned over the years how hard it is to find a franchise quarterback. I've covered this team long enough to you can go down the list of any test oferties, the Kyle Orton's, the Brandon Whedon's. I mean, it's an extensive one. And then we saw this year what happened. You know, we had sort of talked about this notion of what would the Cowboys be if Andy Dalton was under center.

Well, we saw that. It didn't work. We also saw what the Cowboys looked like with Ben Danucci and Garrett Gilbert. And so look at just some of the tweets from the players. Look at the way the locker room responded when this deal got done. There was a reason why Tony Romo was not. not able to compete for his job back, DAC's rookie season.

This fourth round compensatory pick was so impressive, not only to the Jones family, but his performance on the football field and his team around him. And as one, what GM and another agent kind of pointed out to me, yeah, they both could have gambled on the open market next year because that tag at 54.3 was ridiculous.

The Cowboys are going to always overvalue their players. Now, there will be a team that would likely talk themselves into whatever DAC was asking for, But ultimately, these two wanted to make it work. I'm glad that they were able to get themselves to couples therapy. And, you know, the kid is no longer being hurt by some of the media out there accusing him of being greedy. He just wanted some respect and he wanted to get paid. And that's what happened here.

Did, um, does it change, uh, Dallas's free agent plans or draft plans? Not necessarily. Now, it is a good question because as I was looking to see how serious they were about getting this thing done ahead, the tag deadline. I did reach out to a few agents of players to see if they, They've pulled the lever. In other words, have they restructured deals that had not happened? In fact, they hadn't even really had any meaningful free agency meetings. I was told they were all in on getting this DAC deal done.

Now, will they be frugal shoppers? Will they be looking for guys that they can get on veteran minimums? Absolutely. You know, they always say we're doing talent and valuation, 365, seven days a year, and they will do that. But they aren't going to have a lot of money to do some meaningful spending. But I do think they'll have enough to at least give you some depth at certain positions and get you some veterans in the locker room.

But I don't think you're going to see them make a splash. And quite frankly, they really haven't made a splash in free agency since Brandon Carr. And then if you want to consider Mari Cooper mid-season when they went out and got a wide receiver and gave up a one pick, they just, they really haven't gambled on free agents in recent years. Yeah. It's interesting. How is it about a minute left, minute two left? How is it landing?

I mean, if you listen to talk radio in Dallas or if you can connect with fans, how is the contract landing? deck energizes this fan base i mean i to your point i cover this team i hear from a lot of cabboys twitter cowboys twitter is absurd as you know when you make comments about dat prescott in question whether he's an elite quarterback i'm sure you hear it uh no dayker no no different than your criticism of baker mayfield he is a lightning rod here and of course there's still what we call the romo camp that the people that feel like romo should have been uh the quarterback he should have not been able to walk away from this team and they should have competed. But a lot of people see who DAC is both on and off the field is the same guy, the way that he finds ways to win.

When in the past, we've seen quarterbacks find ways to lose. I think this is good for everyone. When I've talked to people both around the facility and, of course, the fans, I think we're all just tired of this storyline. It was his market value. Just pay the guy. Let's move on. I think it helps the team sentiment. I think it helps the attitude. And to your point, it allows them to now start putting some pieces around DAC in order for them to be successful. And quite frankly, this is the best way for Mike McCarthy to gauge whether he's going to be a successful coach in Dallas or not, because he sure had to weather a lot of challenges as it related to the offensive line and then going through four quarterbacks last year in his first season with COVID. All right. Jane Slater

NFL Network. Great. Seeing you, nice job on this. Always good seeing you guys. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, it's, this is a fascinating time because the salary cap's coming down that doesn't happen much in the NFL. It'll bounce back up the following year. It's going to be a lot of good players on the market. So you will be able to do some value shopping. Carlos Dunlap yesterday, let go by Seattle. He was just a cap casualty. I've talked to a couple of people in the NFL and they're like,

you're not going to believe what you're going to see in the next two or three weeks. So you're going to see like really good players available. So it doesn't happen very often in the National Football League where they come down a little bit. In my lifetime, it's gotten more popular, more lucrative. Now you've got the gambling money in there. There's going to be some players out there. If you have to upgrade your defense, you'll have opportunities to. And the players, let's be honest, won't have a ton of leverage because teams won't have a ton of money.

There are some teams that have Washington's got $37 million. The Bengals have 41 million in the cap space. Most of the teams with cap space are bad. Jacksonville. Washington's good and has cap space. Jets. So

keep your eye on Washington. I'm just really fascinated. I'll say it again. That's a good team. Super Bowl coach, championship defense, five and one with Alex Smith, gave the Buccaneers fight with Taylor Henneke. Heineke. It's like,

what are they going to do? I don't know. Very interesting. Hour 3 is around the corner. Endless hot water, spotlight comfort with Navian, energy efficient, navian tankless water heaters. Local rebates, too. Go to tankless maidsimple.com. Tankless made simple.com.

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 helped make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and headwriter Streeter Seidel, help an acapella

band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. 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 CJ 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 in to you, 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. The story I told myself can then shape my behavior, and that can lead me to sabotage the

possibility of connection. This Mental Health Awareness Month, tune into the podcast Deeply Well with Debbie Brown. If you've been searching for a soft place to land while doing the work to become whole, 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. If you're watching the latest season of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, you already know there's a lot to break down. accusing Kelly of sleeping with a merry man. They holding Kay Michelle back from fighting Drew. Pinky has

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