The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 03/23/2021 - Best of The Herd

Episode Date: March 23, 2021

Colin explains why he thinks both Aaron Rodgers and Steve Kerr needed to toughen up given then current situations they are both dealing with. He also takes a look at the NFL draft and shares a surprising team that should take a quarterback in the top 5. After all the movement we’ve seen in the NFL this off season, Colin ranks his top 10 favorite moves he’s seen so far. Plus, he talks to Warriors insider Ethan Strauss to find out why Steve Kerr still cares so much about hurting Kevin Durant's feeling when he's not with the Warriors anymore. 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? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends 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 IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok's podcast network on TikTok.

Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen and learn the hard way on the IHard radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Thanks for listening to the best of herd 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 SportsRadio.com or stream us live every day on the iHeart radio app by searching herd. This is the best of the herd with Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio. It is a Tuesday lively in Los Angeles. It's the herd, wherever you may be, and however you may be listening. IHeart Radio, Fox Sports Radio, and FS1, Levanti David, Tampa Bay Buccaneers stopping by today.

Corey Lindsley, former Packer and now LA Chargers Center. We'll be joining us on the show today. It is great to have you in. Joy Taylor is joining me. Joy Howard Things. You've got the cool glasses on today. I like that. Thank you.

It's a pack 12 or nothing. Oh my God, they're just running. You know, I will say this. Gonzaga looks like easily the best team in the tournament. And I think the days of Kentucky and Duke and Louisville, grabbing all these high school stars is over. It's Pack 12's had a good season, good for them. But I want to start with this.

So the headline of this story is, here's the latest in contract talks between Aaron Rogers and the Packers. And I'm going to read this and you just tell me if it doesn't quite sound right. Mike Silver of the NFL network, he's close with Aaron Rogers, spoke on Monday about the potential of a restructure or extension of. of Rogers contract. He noted how the Packers have not signed any outside free agents this offseason and that lowering Rogers' salary cap number would allow them to do that. Pause. Free agency is almost over.

They're not restructuring Aaron Rogers deal to get free agents because we know they don't do that. They're restructuring that contract because eventually they want to start. Jordan Love and don't want to have money issues. Aaron's smart, right? This is an organization that wouldn't keep tight-end Jared Cook, couldn't land J.J. Watt, didn't give him a heads up when they got rid of his quarterback coach, don't really aggressively pursue free agents.

And Aaron Rogers is supposed to do them a solid? I'm not saying he should be a bad employee. But, you know, the old saying, don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining, I'd be a little cynical of Green Bay. And by the way, great quarterbacks don't usually retire where they start. Tom Brady's now in Tampa, Peyton Manning in Denver. Brett Farr was in Minnesota. Philip Rivers in Indianapolis, Joe Montana in Kansas City. And society is far more mobile today than it was when those.

players were drafted or even in their prime. Aaron and Green Bay have always had tense off seasons. I mean, named the last one that wasn't. There's always a story. Somebody bail, somebody leaves. Aaron's not happy. I mean, Brady and Belichick had mostly contract harmony for 20 years. He took pay cuts, and that didn't end well.

Even Dan Marino in Miami, the Dolphins didn't pick up his contract. He had three offers to leave, and Dan's just like, I'm done, I'm retiring. Aaron, I know you're a sensitive guy. Aaron, I know you don't want to come across as a bad guy. But leaving Green Bay is not the end of the world. I mean, Tom Brady got Jimmy Garoppolo out of the building. Russell Wilson named teams he'd play for this offseason. Dak Prescott played hardball, got everything he wanted.

Aaron Rogers gets nothing he wants. He doesn't even get a heads up when they get rid of his quarterback coach. They wouldn't keep his Pro Bowl center, which is remarkable considering Corey Lindley was drafted in the fifth round. They got a discount on him his first four or five years in the league. They still wouldn't pay him. They wouldn't land J.J. Watt. They didn't get him a number two receiver.

They drafted Jordan Love. than a backup running back. You've got to get, listen, he's lucky that Aaron Jones took a team-friendly contract or they wouldn't have kept him. Dak Prescott played hardball and got everything he wanted. Shouldn't Aaron get occasionally something he wants a little? I mean, listen, I always think there's a balance in this stuff. The team should get some stuff and the players should get some stuff.

That's how a good business runs. I get some stuff in contract negotiations. Fox does. But the idea of restructuring Aaron's contract so they'll go pursue free agents. Now? Really? I don't know. I wouldn't do them.

I don't think I'd do Green Bay any solids here. Just me. Doesn't mean you're a bad employee. I'm just not giving them break after break. So this is really interesting to me. Speaking of how businesses run, and I think one of the reasons the NFL has pulled away from every other sport in the last 20 years is they've got really solid management.

They've got really a solid commissioner. Players get a lot of money. Players have never made more money. But it's run by the league. It's run by the commissioner. That's how businesses work. I don't run Fox. They run the company.

I'm compensated, hopefully at a good rate. But this was weird yesterday. So Steve Kerr got very upset, Coach of the Warriors. And by the way, he's a blue blood, like he's American basketball royalty. He won titles as a player. He was a terrific broadcaster. I mean, he was really great. He was a very capable GM.

And he also won rings and trophies as a coach. It's one of the smartest guys the league's ever had. Highly respect. Everybody like Steve. Yesterday, he called out like a reporter, a blogger, because of a, a tweet about a podcast he was on. Here's Steve Kerr. I enjoyed last season when we had the worst record in the league more than I enjoyed that last season when we went to the finals because we had young guys last year who were trying every day and working hard. We had a great energy,

great spirit, great camaraderie, and losing sucked. But what you want is a good vibe and a good, you want to look forward to going to the gym every day and seeing everybody. And that last year was tough. It really was tough. There was just a lot going on that you guys, some that you know about something that you don't, and that was very difficult. Okay, that's the podcast. That's what he said. He said last year we lost a lot, but it was a great vibe. It was very clear. I listened to the podcast last night. Kerr came out after somebody named Drew Schiller basically quoted Kerr in the podcast, and then Kerr came out and said this reacting to it. Drew Schiller decided to tweet today that Steve Kerr said he enjoyed last season more than Kevin Durant's last year with the Warriors.

Okay. So I want to make this extremely clear. If you want to actually get the story accurate, I encourage you to listen to the podcast before we sort of take this story. into offshoots and use that as my quote because that is the furthest thing from the truth. Actually, we all on the staff listen to it, and that was your quote. Steve, that was your exact quote. I listened to it, and everybody on the staff listened to it. Stop walking on eggshells.

The NBA treats its players great. They don't have to walk on eggshells every 15 minutes. Who gives a rip of Kevin Durant's offended? He dumped you. You won rings with him. He dumped you. Which, by the way, I always support players in mobility. I support player empowerment.

I am always for players moving. But there are no great business books that have ever been written in America titled, Be afraid of your employees and walk on eggshells. That's the key to business. That book's never going to get written. The NBA is now terrified of its players. Kyrie Irving decides again yesterday, I'm just not going to go on a road trip. Crickets?

For multiple years, load management, stars, thank God Hardin and LeBron love to play. Multiple stars, I don't want to play tonight. Saturday night games, TV games, I don't want to play. Can you imagine Patrick Malm's doing that? Russell Wilson, Aaron Rogers, just not playing? I support players. But Steve Kerr's reaction was embarrassing. If Steve Kerr would have come up to me after a podcast and done that,

I'd have told them to pound sand. That's what you said. I listened. We all listened. That's exactly what you said. Coaches in the NBA are terrified of occasionally offending a star. Maybe that's why the NFL's pulling away. It's more relatable.

I'm not anti-NBA. I watch it every night in the season. I'm not anti-player. I am pro-mobility, pro-lebron. But stop being terrified of the players. You had a podcast. You said. Last year was a lot of fun.

We lost a lot of fun. of games. The guys were all in. Previous year was tough. And by the way, we all knew that. There was a book written about it. The turbulence with Kevin Durant's not new information. Ethan Strauss wrote a book. You know, I forget the name of it, but it was the building and undoing of the Warrior Dynasty. It was written. It's documented. We all knew.

It's not a big surprise. But the fact that Steve Kerr, like American basketball royalty, is terrified of pushback because a former player who dumped him went to Twitter and goes, oh, come on, Steve, that's hilarious. Listen, you need structure in a business. There's the people that own the business, and then there's the management, and then there's the employees. And nobody disputes that in professional athletics,

like we all go to watch the players. But the truth is, you watch this show right now to watch me, not my management. I still have management. You know, like I know nobody's watching this because of my bosses. You're watching because of Joey and I are, you know, the production. But we sell bosses. There's still the Murdoch family owns it. Then there's layers of management.

Then there's employees well compensated. But the NBA right now is like, it's okay to push back. Like the NBA players did not want to go to the All-Star game. And Adam Silver said, no, we're going to the All-Star game. NBA players didn't want to condense season. Adam Silver said, hey, guys, we need to see. season. And many times Adam Silver does this, and LeBron figured this out last year in the bubble, you want to play because if you don't play games, then the owners have even more power based on

the CBA, the collective bargaining. Remember last year, there was about a four or five day stretch that Kyrie Irving was talking about no players playing the season. And LeBron went, time out, time out, time out. We can't do this. We have to play. And it ended up being a glorious different but glorious season. So I just can't imagine a hockey, a baseball, a soccer, any other sport where a coach who got dumped by a player goes on a podcast, it's there for you to listen, and then is outraged and deeply terrified that some blogger or writer says, here's what Steve said in a podcast, listen for yourself, I did, my whole staff did.

It wasn't taken out of context. It wasn't an offshoot. It wasn't outrageous. Toughen up. Steve Kerr-Aren Rogers. Toughen up a little. It's okay. Occasionally,

players aren't always right in any sport. 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. What's up, everyone? It's me. three-time NFL All-Pro Sean Marriam. And I have a new sports podcast called The Lights Out Podcast with Sean Mariner. This podcast is special to me as I get a chance to talk to some of the best who've ever done it on the field or the track.

So whether it's talking to a Super Bowl champion or a NASCAR Cup Series champion, the Lights Out podcast will bring it to you the only way I know how to. I'm giving you the best insight from the best who's ever done it. Listen to Lights Out with Sean Merriman on the IHeart Radio app or wherever you get your podcast. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win.

I don't care what I'm saying. Yep, that's me, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement

to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations,

stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at Tickford. Talk Podcast Network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me,

your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing,

we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know. know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross,

because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines,

as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, learn the hard way. Open your free, iHeartRadio app search learn the hard way and listen now. 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? Like what was 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-hoo. Ah, ha, ooh, ha, ooh, ha, ooh.

Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into PodMeets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's interesting. The mock drafts are coming out now, and Mel Kuiper has one today, and the first four picks are all quarterbacks, which is not improbable because the quarterbacks matter. He has Jacksonville taking Trevor Lawrence and the Jets taking Zach Wilson from PYU. Then he has Justin Fields going to Carolina who moves up and gets Miami's pick and then Atlanta takes Trey Lance.

If I'm Miami, I'm not sure I'm giving up that pick and I'm not so sure I'm not drafting Justin. Justin Field because I don't want to get trapped. Listen, Miami could first just take a mulligan on this and do what Arizona did. Say, just listen, we drafted a pocket guy. The league's changing. We're going to go with Kyler Murray. You could do that with Justin Fields. Justin Fields is bigger than Tua, stronger than Tua, faster than Tua, a bigger high-end arm than Tua.

He's a better athlete than Tua. Tua has to, a play has to be designed. for Tua and the play to work. It's very Derek Carr. It's very Kirk Cousins. It's not that way for Josh Allen or Lamar Jackson or Patrick Mahomes or Russell Wilson or Kyler Murray or a lot of times Aaron Rogers. They can go off script.

Tua is more Kirk Cousins. It's more Derek Carr or Andy Dalton. Pressure equals trouble. Ad-libbing gets trouble. I mean, when Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced Tua last year at 38, He looks significantly more athletic than Tua. You could draft Justin Fields if you're Miami. And if he doesn't look good in camp, you're not trapped.

You could move Tua. You could move Justin Fields. But it's a bad quarterback college draft next year. And Miami's well-run enough and talented enough with Tua. They're not going to have a top 7-8 pick next year. This is the year. And there's a stat I just can't get out of. If you look at Tua under pressure, and I know he's a rookie, and I know he's a kid, I get that.

But Joe Burrow looked good by week two. By week two, Joy and I were like, whoa. Tua under pressure is bad. 45 passer rating, 43% completion percentage. He is a player that you have to have a play designed for. And you can win games that way. That's very Jared Gough. But the Rams moved off Jared Gough.

And Arizona moved off Josh Allen. that pocket guy where it's all got to be perfect. Football's not perfect anymore. The athletes are getting bigger and stronger on the defensive front. Offensive lines have less practice time. They're mostly getting worse. So the idea for Miami, I think I would take a quarterback. I just don't want to be trapped.

I don't want to be sitting there with Tua seven weeks in watching Josh Allen come into Miami and have so many more gifts and so much more. talent and be bigger, stronger, faster with a better arm, and have Stefan Diggs and Cole Beasley and Emmanuel Sanders, better old line, good running game. He can playoff script. And I have a small quarterback who if he has to and live is very limited. If he faces pressure, basically unravels. That's why I draft Justin Field. I just don't want to be trapped. You can move Justin Fields. Think about this. Next year is a bad college quarterback draft.

If you have Justin Fields in camp and you've shown him off in preseason and he's a couple of times had to come in for Tua and look pretty good, you're going to get your pick back. If you wanted to move him, you'll get value back. But if you move and give this pick, this number three pick to Carolina, you go in with Tua and it doesn't work. What are you left with? you're in a division with the best football coach ever, Bill Belichick,

and a quarterback that looks every bit as good as Patrick Mahomes named Josh Allen, and you're stuck with a 5-11 and a half guy that can't work off script. I don't know. I'm Miami. I'm not moving that pick. I'm taking Justin Fields. Be sure to catch live editions of the herd weekdays in noon Eastern 9 a.m. Pacific. So a story today out that Russell Wilson wants to sign Antonio Brown, who believes most people think he's going to stay in Tampa. Russell Wilson's been pretty unhappy and outspoken this off season. I'm a fan of Russell.

I know him. I like him. I like his people. Aaron Rogers can wear me out, but I will say Russell and Aaron have been the two most talented quarterbacks for the last six years in the NFC. In between the two of them, zero Super Bowl appearances. Meanwhile, Jared Goff got there, and Cam Newton got there,

and Nick Fulz got there, and Matt Ryan got there, and Jimmy Garoppolo got there. and there's mostly a reason. Aaron and Russell are now very expensive. And over the last couple of years, you can see the growing frustration with Russell Wilson and Aaron Rogers, despite the fact that Aaron was 13 and 3 and got to the NFC championship for the second year in a row, and Russell was 12 and 4 and has a great team and always wins.

But they're frustrated. And part of the frustration is they look at Tom Brady, who's not only got a trophy room, not a trophy case, but they look at this Tampa roster and it's stacked. It looks like an All-Star team and they re-signed all of them. And there's a reason because Tom Brady for 18 years has taken pay cuts, even pre-Giselle. Tom Brady, who looks happy all the time, made a decision years ago that happiness would not be defined by money. It would be defined by winning.

And so even on his first big contract, he took less. And Tom generally looks very happy. And errands in back-to-back conference championships and isn't. And Russell is 12 and 4 and isn't. But the reality is Russell Wilson's expensive. Tom Brady is only $9 million against the cap. Russell's $32 million against the cap this year. 37 million, four times Brady next year.

And then 40 million against the cap. We know now that Russell, I think, is number two or three. in the league in Instagram, meaning Russell can make millions a year on the Instagram. We know that Dak Prescott made $50 million his first three years out of football as a fourth round pick. Not the most talented guy in the offense. Like if you want to get happy in life, then you have to decide what makes you happy. Aaron has enough money now.

He can never spend it. Russell's got enough money now. He can never spend it. What makes you happy? So the reason Brady has an all-star team, and he does. It looks like an all-star team. They're good everywhere. I mean, what does Tampa need in the draft?

They don't even need a kicker. They don't need anything because they resign everybody. Because Tom's making $9 million a year. Well, Giselle. Tom was taking pay cuts before that. Tom decided winning made him happy. All right. And so that's the decision he's made.

Russell's these quarterbacks now can make so much money I mean I don't even know what Aaron Rogers makes on his state farm stuff I'll just take a guess 10 million a year I'm just throwing it out there but if Dax's making 50 million in three years what is Aaron making on Aaron on that state farm commercial and I don't begrudge guys making money but Russell was getting to Super Bowls and then he signed a four-year 90s million dollar deal and now he doesn't and when you watch green bay and you watch Seattle doesn't it always feel like it does to me at the end of the year Seattle could just use like two more really good players and Aaron Rogers could really use JJ Watt and a number two but they can't afford Emmanuel Sanders and JJ Watt and Green Bay and Russell can't afford a Kareem Hunt at running back on top of the running backs he has so you got to decide what makes you happy.

And, you know, Antonio Brown is not really a need for Seattle. I do think their culture would allow it to work. But it does feel like Seattle is a player too shy every year. And it does feel like Green Bay is. And it doesn't with Tampa and Tom. That's why, as Ryan Rusillo said, Brady got so frustrated in New England. He's like, I'm taking pay cuts. Where are my guys?

One more herd? The herd streams 24 hours a day, seven days a week, within the IHeart Radio app. Search heard to listen live or on demand whenever you'd like. Free agency isn't done yet, but it's mostly wrapped up. And there's a lot of moves that I've been made. And I thought, like, these are the 10 moves to me. These are my 10 favorite moves.

It's not just about how good the player is. It's what kind of contract he signed. How valuable is he beyond just being a football player? These are my 10 favorite free agent moves or moves so far. this offseason. Number 10. Dak Prescott Cowboys. Listen, am I concerned that he's going to make $40 million a year?

Yeah, I think it's too much. Am I concerned that he's 7 and 18 against teams above 500 the last four years? Yeah. Am I concerned the more the Cowboys rely on Dak and less on Zeke? They win less? Yeah. But in the end, they'll have continuity at quarterback. He's an adult.

He's a grown-up. And in the NFL, what you can't be is searching week. after week for the right messenger and the right guy and the right distributor at quarterback. So I don't love the contract and I do worry that he has struggled against better teams. We have a trend here, but he's in-house. They don't have to worry about that position. Number nine. I think Aaron Jones signing with the Packers is huge.

First of all, it's a team-friendly deal. This is a city that does not get free agents. I think he's the first or second bass running back in the NFL. Dude's got 35 touchdowns the last two years. That is a ton. of touchdowns. Team-friendly deal. And also, you look at Green Bay's roster.

Outside of Aaron Rogers, there's two stars. Devonte Adams and Aaron Jones, and Aaron just took a team-friendly deal for a franchise that can't get free agents. I think it's a huge deal and a big coup for Green Bay. Number eight. Emmanuel Sanders. Again, all this guy does, give you about 7,800 yards every year. One year, $6 million.

Learns the Playbook. Again, Buffalo has figured it out. Most of your great free agent signings are not mega deals. He is the classic. They've got Stefan Diggs over the top, Cole Beasley in the slot, what they need to two, and they go get it in Emmanuel Sanders. Number seven. Levante, David, to the Buccaneers.

What's interesting about him, dude doesn't miss a snap. And linebacker is a physical position. He doesn't miss a snap. Here's the other thing I love. Seven straight years as the buck's captain. He is an intellectual, emotional, leader for this defense. He is the guy you rely on to call signals. Every big third down.

He is the heart and soul of their defense, and they've got him signed up. Number six. But Shaq Barrett's the pass rusher. He's got, last two years, if you count playoffs, 32 sacks. He had eight pressures against Mahomes in the Super Bowl, three sacks against Aaron Rogers. And though I love Levante David, there's just not five guys on the planet that get after the quarterback like Shaq Barrett. And when your way to the Super Bowl is through Aaron Rogers or through Russell Wilson, you got to get Shaq Barrett in house.

And they did. Number five. Trent Williams, costly for the 49ers. But he's made eight Pro Bowl appearances. He was the highest-graded tackle. And remember, Jimmy G can't stay healthy. So left tackle for the 49ers is more valuable. and left tackle for a lot of other teams.

Garoppolo's not a great runner, and he gets hurt. And Kyle Shanahan in the toughest division in football that's got lots of good pass rushers, boom, you're set with Trent Williams. Number four. John Johnson, a third, safety from the Rams to the Browns. This is another guy. Last year, he was calling signals for the defense. A very heady player, Cleveland's secondary, especially safety, was a mess.

They had the lowest graded safeties. He is terrific. He was the Rams defensive signal caller and captain last year. The Rams had the number one rated defense. I was actually surprised they let him go, but they had to cut. They had to make some cuts now, right? They're paying Jalen Ramsey, Aaron Donald, Matt Stafford, Andrew Whitworth. They had to make cuts.

So I think he's a great get for Cleveland. Number three. Corey Lindsley, the number one graded center to the Chargers. First of all, they had the lowest graded offensive line in the NFL. he is the highest-rated center, and Justin Herbert got sacked the most by any rookie quarterback. So my rule in the NFL is get a quarterback, then protect him and draft people to get their quarterback, and they got a stud. Again, surprised, Green Bay did not step up.

He is the number one center in the NFL. Number two. Carson Wentz. I think this team is a mobile, strong-armed quarterback away from winning a Super Bowl. The last time he was with Frank Reich, he was. was a home run. I know there's doubters, but I tend to think Philadelphia, first of all, still pays some of his contract, and Philadelphia was bitter that the Colts gave up almost nothing to get him. And so to me, when I look at the Colts right now, I think they're one more speed

receiver away from winning the Super Bowl, and I think Wence is the difference. Number one. I'm going to go Matt Stafford to the Rams. He has the most game-winning drives in a single season in NFL history. He's not a winning quarterback, but the long. Lions aren't a winning organization. He's also, considering the beating he's taken there, he started 16 games in nine of the last 10 seasons, and the Lions have had bad offensive lines. Rams won 10 and 6 and won a playoff game and gave Green Bay trouble at Lambo. This feels like the one move in the offseason that took a team that was good and makes

them like a favorite to get to the Super Bowl out of their conference along with Tampa. So I think that's the number one move so far. 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. What's up, everyone? It's me three-time NFL All-Pro Sean Marion. And I have a new sports podcast called The Lights Out Podcast with Sean Murray. This podcast is special to me as I get a chance to talk to some of the best we've ever done it. on the field or the track.

So whether it's talking to a Super Bowl champion or a NASCAR Cup Series champion, the Lights Out podcast will bring it to you the only way I know how to. I'm giving you the best insight from the best who's ever done it. Listen to Lights Out with Sean Merriman on the IHeartRadio app

or wherever you get your podcast. 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Cliver Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football,

or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast.

It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the with health field and conversations with so many incredible guests.

I'm talking. Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch.

Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth? Are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.

I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Kear Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast. Learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Hey, everyone. It's Ryder Strong and Wilfredel from PodMeets World. And now the PodMeets 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 of the 50th season from the final attempts at gameplay to the desperate please. to the desperate pleas of finalists to a bunch of ha-hoo.

Ha-ha-hoo! Again, we are experts. So make sure to tune into PodMeets Twirled for all our Survivor 50 takes. Listen to PodMeets Twirled on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. He's an NBA writer and a great one for The Athletic. His name is Ethan Strauss, author of The Victory Machine, The Making and Unmaking of the Warriors Dynasty. And he joins us today live. So Steve Kerr got all worked up.

Holy moly, Ethan, he got all worked up. And then I went and listened to the tape and the podcast. And he did say that he had more fun with a team. And I think to myself, the story isn't the podcast. The story is, why is Kerr getting so worked up over a seemingly harmless comment? So you tell me why. That's what's fascinating now, isn't it? right? Because Steve gets criticized a bunch of different ways. He's an NBA coach. I know him. I know

Drew Schiller. This is what's going to happen. But what's interesting is that this is what provokes the response. This is what gets a guy called out by name. And it's about a player who's not on the team anymore. And I think it shows the Warriors do, you know, regardless of whatever Steve's issues are with aggregation or being misquoted, the Warriors have a certain sensitivity when it comes to Kevin Durant. That the NBA superstar is so powerful that even when he leaves, there's a sensitivity to placation. You saw it immediately when Kevin Durant left. Joe Lakub immediately said that he was going to retire his jersey, not even waiting for a moment, even though he did, as you say, dump them. So that's what's fascinating about the whole thing. It's that in the modern NBA, the superstar doesn't just

have tremendous power over a franchise. He has tremendous power over a franchise after he leaves. That's crazy. What was Kerr and Durant's relationship? like? Well, I think it started off very positive. There was a honeymoon period. The way it began was at that All-Star game in New York, a half decade ago, when Steve had really molded the Warriors into something free and easy and fun. And Kevin Durant knocked on the door of the coach's room and they were all drinking beers. And he said to them, oh, so this is what you're all about, huh? And they said, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was the beginning. And it was loose and it was relaxed in the beginning along the uh for the durant warriors they were all drinking beers in the locker room i know

kevin durant would chug a cores and then belch and then he would do his interviews and he would thank god that he was in such a free and easy environment like he wasn't in buttoned down Oklahoma city but eventually uh the experience of the warriors did not do for Kevin Durant what he wanted it to do emotionally and towards the end things got very heavy uh once he knew that he would never be satiated and that i think began the breakup and it manifested itself in these spats where he was taking shots at Kerr, where he was on the press podium stage saying that, oh, we're supposed to play with joy, and he was meaning it sarcastically as an obvious shot at Kerr. And they damn near won a championship through it all. I mean,

they came close, if not for injuries, with them really at loggerheads, with Kerr and Durant almost going at each other in the media. They almost pulled it off, but for a few injuries. But man, It was a heavy season. It was rocky. And if you read my book, the drama was fantastic, but it was a lot to go through for the people involved. Yeah, there you go. We appreciate that. You know, it's funny.

I look at, if you said Steve Kerr, I'd say smart and intense. Kevin Durant, I'd say talented and sensitive. Clay Thompson, I'd say stoic. Steph Curry, I'd say joyful and leadership. Everybody can be kind of described, right? And when I do think of Kerr, I do think smart, but I do think intense. And I'm not blaming anybody, but is it that intensity? Because I always thought that Steph Curry kind of tried to play not Peacemaker with Kerr and Draymond or Kerr.

But is some of this that Steve Kerr is just highly intense. And Michael Jordan got after him. It's Kerr's intensity sometimes too much for people. Yeah, you know, this is why I like talking with you, Colin, is that you really probe the personalities of the people involved and look deeper into it because I do think that there's an element of that. That what makes Steve ultimately successful in the NBA is that intensity. And I wish I could give you an origin story. I tried to write about it. I talked to everybody in his life that where did this competitive street come from?

Why is he breaking clipboards apart? Why is he sick after losing? because you talk to his teammates at Arizona. They said that he was just sick the next day. And it was just always in him. You know, his parents were intellectuals, professors. They didn't get why Steve and Little League was throwing his glove and cursing when he went out. They didn't understand it.

They never wanted him to do that. They didn't really think that highly of sports. But this has just always been in Steve Kerr. And it results, I think, sometimes in this fire that's expressed at his players where he's not going to back down. And that's why you have situations like him and Dremont, for instance, in Oklahoma City, screaming at each other and being separated in the locker room. You know, Clay comes back next year. I guess you could say the championship window is closed. I mean, you cover this team daily. Does it need a reboot? Are they one player away? If I said next two years, what are the Warriors going

to look like? What would be your answer, Ethan? I think they just have to hang around the game, kind of like the San Antonio Spurs did, where you have enough organizational intelligence and enough people know what they're doing, and you're not going to get to that 60-plus win level, maybe, right? You're never going to be the favorites alone, I mean, you're never going to be the prohibitive favorites, alone the favorites. But you can get within striking distance. And I do think they have an opportunity to do that, just in how Steph has played, how he looks, how shooters tend to age really well. Steve Nash, Reggie Miller, Ray Allen, they all aged well.

Yeah. Extends the window. And there's a guy by the name of Jordan Poole. And I don't know if everybody, casual NBA fans have been following what he's doing. He has broken out at age 21 as this scoring combo guard who has a lot of talent. He was terrible as a rookie, but he's been fantastic this season. And he's the guy to maybe spell stuff when he's on the bench. This out of nowhere, Jordan Poole phenomenon,

might be the thing that allows them the bridge to get within striking distance. By the way, circling back to KD, what is his legacy with the Warriors? How do you look at it? He was part of the greatest team ever in terms of talent, maybe just the greatest team ever. And he wasn't all that happy with being a part of it in the end. It's this strange, almost Greek tragedy. It's Shakespeare. It's fascinating.

How did that happen? Why did that happen? How did a guy elevate a situation beyond what anybody could have ever thought it was and not love the process? So he's a paradox. It's hard to digest it. But in the end, we are drawn to that in the NBA. For whatever reason, we want to watch the last dance. We don't want to watch necessarily and see people dwell on the beginning of the Bulls championship.

We're interested in, why did these egos clash? Why did it break up? We don't talk about the beginning of Shaq and Kobe, do we? we talk about how why couldn't Shaq and Kobe keep it going? Why was ultimate success as a tandem not enough? And I think that this is just part of the NBA and part of that legacy where in the NFL, dynasties break up due to injury or age. In the NBA, dynasties break up due to egos.

So it's all part of that grand tradition. Ethan Strauss, you're such an interesting guy, the athletic. Put that book up again. Let's sell you some more copies here. The victory machine. You're always thoughtful, and you've got a podcast called The House of Strauss. Love having you on late notice. Thank you so much. Of course. Any time, Colin.

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? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends 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. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th.

You might have seen the skits, my basketball and college football journey, or my career in sports media. Well, now I'm bringing all of that experience. excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfilled of conversations with athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. So let's get to it.

Listen to The Clifford Show on the IHeard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences. having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing.

How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you're not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.