The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Burrow Extension Reality, Davante’s Raider Mistake, McAfee/ESPN Fit,

Episode Date: May 19, 2023

John explains why the Bengals will have to let one of their star WR’s go after signing Joe Burrow to a massive extension, why it was a mistake for Davante Adams to force his way to from the Packers to the Raiders, if outrage over an agent offering vacation house stays for teams to draft his players is overblown, and if Pat McAfee will work on historically conservative ESPN. He also answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John onTwitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #volume #herdSee 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. The Volume. What is going on, everybody, John Middlecock, Theran Out Podcasts.

How are we doing? Hopefully everyone's having a good Friday or good weekend. Here's the game play. We'll talk a little football, little Burro, little Devante, a little McAfee. And instead of doing a mailbag this weekend and probably next weekend as well, because it's a holiday weekend, I'm just going to add it on to Friday's pod. So at John Middlecoph is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs. Get your question answered here on the show.

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your pair of tickets, can't beat it. Let's start with a couple of big stories this week were Devante Adams and Joe Burrow, two of the best players in the league, you know, kind of drew some headlines. There was a long article on Devante Adams, and there were some quotes from Joe Burrow. Now, Joe Burrow talked about his contract

because he has contract extension eligible. He's clearly, you know, got a chance to go down as, you know, one of the best players in franchise. history, if not the best. That's a long way to go, but I'd say his career is, his career trajectory is pointing up right at the sky, right? It's already headed there. And he talked about the importance of other people getting paid. And listen, he's not dumb. He understands that for them to keep rolling, he can't do it by himself, right? LSU loaded team. The last couple years, Jamar Chase,

T. Higgins, offensive weapons, a good defense. He gets it. Right? It's why, we hold when guys act like idiots at the quarterback position, you know, we can't take them seriously, right, over the years. Like when that contract clause was in Kyler Murray's contract, it was an enormous story not because of the clause, but because it was a quarterback. We're like, what? How is this possible?

Now, here's the thing. The chiefs and the Bengals are a fantastic rivalry right now, right? They've played back-to-back conference championships. They've each one won. Both games could have gone either way. You could argue the two best quarterbacks in the league. Obviously, Mahomes is the best. And Joe Burrow is right there in conversation.

I know they beat Josh Allen. But, you know, I think that's fair to for up for debate. But here's the thing. The Chiefs have maintained this winning with everyone being paid. Right? Patrick Mahomes has a large contract. Travis Kelsey, they're lucky, plays a position that does not command offensive tackle or defensive end or wide receiver money, right? They have a highly, highly paid

defensive lineman and Chris Jones. They made a pivot off Tyreek Hill because of financial constraints and it's impossible to pay everybody. And the thing when you look at the Bengals roster, which is going to be interesting, because Joe Burrough is getting extended. Jamar Chase is never going anywhere. I think what you have to ask yourself a question is, can you afford to pay two premium wide receivers. Now, T. Higgins would get less than Jamar Chase, but ideally when you build your team, you kind of spread it out through different positions. You can't have two $20 plus million wide receivers for several years. It's just not going to work out. There was a reason to the 49ers, I think, discussed trading Brandon Ayyuk, not because he's not a sweet player,

because they're paying Debo Samuel huge money. And if they're, they were to extend IUC or next year on his fifth year option, that would be a lot of money allocated to two guys at a premium position, right? So it becomes very complicated and it's the hard part about team building in the NFL is ideally over, you know, a several year period, you have a sweet defensive lineman, you have a sweet offensive lineman, you have one sweet wide receiver. Obviously, you need more than one, but you have other guys that aren't being paid as much. And it's going to be very, very fascinating. I remember talking to a buddy on the chiefs. He's like, they're good. I mean, obviously. I mean, you watch the two teams and it could

have gone either way this year in the conference championship game. Basically, we'll see what it looks like once they start paying everybody. And, you know, Higgins is going to be the cheapest that he's 20 plus million dollars a year. Even if Joe Burrow, quote, unquote, takes some sort of discount. He's making 45 plus. Jamar Chase in a year is going to command, you know, Whatever Justin Jefferson gets this year, probably a couple percent more. So the three of those guys, if they extend the ball and clearly Burrow and Chase are going nowhere, I do understand the Higgins, it just puts them in a tough spot. Now, I'm not into trading T. Higgins, but I just wonder, can you afford to pay everybody

and build a competitive roster big picture? I do think that's a fair question mark to ask. and I think when you look at the Bengals and Joe Burrow gets this, it's probably going to be a little more complicated than you think. Like the Chiefs were lucky. Kind of was pretty easy, right? They had a quarterback. They had a defensive pass rusher.

They had one wide receiver. And their other sweet player played a position that like sometimes when your best player is like a middle linebacker or a safety or a tight end, you get financially lucky because their positions do not ask for the prices. Is there any difference between Travis Kelsey and Devante Adams in terms of production, in terms of the ability to win with, or Tyree Kill? Obviously not. Like, he's every bit as good is all the elite players at the wide receiver position. Well, Google their salaries. The chiefs save a dramatic amount of money because his position. Now, we could argue that's unfair,

and I believe it is. Like, Travis Kelsey and George Kittle are worth every bit, you know, of $23, $24, $25 million a year. But that's not what their position pays, right? So it'll be very, very fascinating how the Bengals handle all this because they got keeper players, but the three guys you want to keep, their salaries would add up really, really fast. And could they build a complete team, which they've, I would say they've close to had the last several years.

Obviously, they had some flaws. You would like a little bit better offensive line. You could argue their corners could be much improved. But, you know, I mean, you get to a Super Bowl with a very good chance to win and you have an opportunity to win on the road again against the Chiefs. Like, your team's pretty damn good. And one of the reasons it's been so good is because financially they've had a lot of advantages. All these guys are on rookie contracts.

And that's about to change. Devante Adams. If you haven't read the Ringer article, I skim through it. I'm sure you've seen a lot of the headlines. And let me preface everything by saying this. I love Devante Adams. He's a Fresnel State guy. We didn't overlap, but a lot of people that I worked with did.

They swear by them. They love them. Everyone I've ever known that has been around the guy, you know, swears by the work ethic, the drive, the desire. His production and game speaks for itself. He's not just a winning player. He's a winning person. you want him in your organization.

And I do understand that it's tough, right? For most of our lives, and I say this all the time, we have such a long runway in whatever we do. In sports, it's very short, right? Even if you're an all-time great player, like he's trending toward being, his career might be 15 years, right? 15 years.

If he lives till 80, it's really a short period of time in his life. But it's a job that pays more than any other job. you'll ever have unless you start some successful business. And it's, it's just a very unique situation for pro athletes. He was in Green Bay for 10 years, one of the most successful organizations in the league. And I get being from the West Coast how he might have, you know, he's admitted this, he wanted to change the scenery, he wanted to do something different and he wanted to get back toward the West Coast. And I respect that. My only pushback is in football, when you're part of a winner? Like when you're as good as Devante is or any player around the league, who's an all

pro level guy consistently, you're going to do two things. You're going to produce and you're going to be very, very rich. Those things are inevitable, right? And especially money. Like, no matter who Devante played for, he's going to be paid a premium. So I do think when you're factoring in where you're going to play, at wide receiver, you can't really control how good your team's going to be, right? Aaron, right? Aaron, right? Aaron, Rogers can immediately turn the Jets into a power. He can take them right to the playoffs and in the Super Bowl mix immediately. But if I just added Devante Adams to the Jets instead of Aaron Rogers and they still

had, let's say they still had Mike White and Zach Wilson, I think we'd all agree. They, you know, maybe a game, but there would not be a dramatic difference. I put Aaron Rogers and he plays at a high level, which clearly he's capable of, they immediately can win 12 games. So as a wide receiver, and just like most positions, if you're a star left tackle, if you're a star linebacker, you can only dictate so much. So when you decide to leave, which I respect, I've made change of scenery several times. But when you do that, you can't really complain, right? Because you chose this. And the Packers wanted to keep him and he says, I want to go. And one thing he said a lot through this article was he needed to prove that he was an elite player,

that it wasn't because of Aaron Rogers. And I wonder sometimes with this generation, like historically athletes, especially great ones, always try to find some way to create a chip on their shoulder, chip on their shoulder, create an edge for themselves, create some sort of motivation, which I totally respects. Everyone does. But I do think when he said that out loud, like, I don't know who said that. Who has ever said, I don't know if Devante would be good without Aaron Rogers,

especially the last several years. Also, it would be one thing if it felt like some sort of, I don't want to say battle between the two, but Aaron Rogers has been pretty outspoken the last several years that the two best players he's ever played with are Charles Woodson, who's a first ballot hall of famer, and Devante Adams, who is definitely trending that way. So I actually don't think there's some like what this,

player would be without the other guy. Hell, we saw it last year. Tyreek Hill immediately turned himself into that. And how good would Patrick Mahomes be without him? And boom, it wins the MVP wins another Super Bowl. And Tyreek dominates. Sometimes independent from each other, those two guys are awesome, right? Rob Groukowski would have been sweet wherever. Tom Brady could play with whoever. Like sometimes great combinations work, right? But if you split the two guys apart, they would still have a lot of success. But he chose to leave the Packers, which was his choice to go to one of the most dysfunctional organizations we've ever seen. And in the internet age, a franchise that always loses. I mean, they've made the playoffs two times in basically two and a half decades.

And their two playoff bursts, they've lost both of them. And they were both on the road. One of them, they got destroyed the year when Derek got hurt. Two years ago against the Bengals, game wasn't really as close as the final score indicated, even though the Raiders had a chance to tie it at the end. But Devante has to justify, and it felt like he was trying to do this in the article, why he made this move. And he kept doubling down, like, I didn't just make this move for Derek Carr, which clearly, you know, it's not like he demanded a trade once Derek got sent home and is now on another team. But one thing he couldn't hide, and I don't totally blame him is, like, Jimmy Garapolo is not a great quarterback. back fit for. Like, Jimmy Garapolo is not, obviously, Aaron Rogers, but even Derek in terms of

explosive balls down the field. Like, I think DeBonte realizes this is not going to be conducive to my success. Look at Jimmy Garapolo in his time starting with San Francisco and wide receivers who flourished in terms of numbers. Didn't really happen. I mean, Debo was getting the ball as a running back or on quick screens, not really down the field. So I think Devante knows, like, this is not going to be great for me.

But like, you signed up for this. You wanted to leave Aaron Rogers to go to the Raiders who lose a lot and also have a coach. It'd be one thing if you went to a team and they had a coach, they had just hired a coach with a lot of success. But Josh McDaniels is the head coach has been an utter disaster. So I get where, and I don't want to say he's being defensive, but he's trying to justify a move that I think most football fans go, yeah, probably not working at. out great. But trying to say, like, I'm proud to be an all pro. Devonte, you could be an all pro

playing with the Houston Texans. You're that great of a player. But I think, like, you chose to go to this franchise, you know, it's going to be very, very difficult to win. In that division, you know, especially now that Sean Payton's there, I think most human beings, and this is not like personal, are going to choose the Raiders to finish last. And it's going to be very difficult. I'll be surprised if they don't. And, you know, this is, situation's already kind of getting a little weird with them saying, I don't think we quite see eye to eye on the offense and not sure where we're going. Yeah, man, I mean, this is what you signed up for.

Before we dive into what's next, do you know that Angie's list is now Angie, your home for everything home? And as someone who is currently house shopping and who has bought property before you, walk in, you go, well, I need to fix the kitchen. I need to want to improve this bathroom. I want to fix some stuff in the backyard, and then you go, well, I don't do this for a living. Where do I even start? Who do I even contact? That's where Angie has 20 years of experience combined with new tools to simplify the process. Over 220,000 pros in their network. They can help

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Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unethical. 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. 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. Clever 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, personal health, personal 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 TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Hey, this is Robert from the Stuff to Blow Your Mind podcast. Joe and I are both lifelong Star Wars fan, so we're celebrating May the 4th with a brand new week of fun, thought-provoking Star Wars-related episodes. Join us as we tackle science and culture topics

from a galaxy far, far away, such as the biology of tantons and wampas on the ice planet hot, or the practicality and corporate business sense of the Sith rule of two. Listen to stuff to blow your mind on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

A couple other quick stories. There was a report several days ago that David Cantor, an agent, a high-profile agent, had been offering teams and GMs and personnel people, basically his vacation homes, Miami, Salt Lake City, I don't exactly know where all of them are, if they would draft his players. You know, and one, I thought it was kind of funny. Obviously, you know, Mike Florio, Pro Football Talk made a very big deal of it. My first reaction was like, isn't that kind of business?

You know, isn't part of business, whatever industry you're in listening to this is kind of taking care of your clientele? You know, the two industries I'm the most closest to growing up and, you know, most of my friends work in are either farming or construction. And I think there are a lot of parallels to the two of them in terms of taking care of the people you do business with or taking care of people that you want to do business with, whether it be golf trips, sweets at games,

for a long period of time when I was growing up, the guy my dad worked for had basically the best duck hunting in California. And a lot of people, you know, business-wise, were taken out there

for, you know, business deals. Like, welcome to America. Isn't that the way it kind of works? Now, just because you take a guy to Pebble Beach or some sweet duck blind or the Laker or Yankee game,

never guarantees you you're going to get the deal. Like, you still have to, you know, whether it be in construction, hit a certain number, have the capability of, you know, getting the job done. So just because I whine and dine you or offer you some incentive, like, this is too big a business, most industries, including the NFL to just be like, well, you know, this guy took me to Pebble Beach, LACC, a Laker game. and paid for two weeks of dinners. He's getting my business, even though he's way shittier than the other guy who didn't do

that and will make me more money. That's not the way it works. Definitely not in 2023. So, yeah, he can offer me a Miami condo or wherever his vacation homes may be. But no GM is going to draft your player just because you give me a week three on the beach for my family. if the guy can't play. Just like in a construction bid,

I'm not going to get the bid if I am way under the number just because I took care of you and if you know that my company can't handle the job. So this notion that this shit doesn't go on, you'd either be naive, not work in the private sector,

or just not quite understand how the world works. But two, anyone thinking that someone would just draft a player if you don't think the guy can play because of a couple nights stay. Like one reason that it's going to be very difficult, like when you hear some of these stories, you know, the Alabama baseball coach just got fired for giving tips about a pitcher being scratched. And historically, there have been stories about guys throwing games in college.

It's very, very difficult in 2023. And I don't worry about this at all with a player or a coach. definitely in any pro sports, but probably even now in college, in football, NIL, when it comes to gambling, because they're all making too much money. Back when a player wasn't making that much money,

and if I could offer you double his salary, you might throw the game, and I might be able to influence it. But the moment I start making seven figures, eight figures, 50 grand, 100 grand, I don't give a shit. I make $11 million a year

if I'm an NFL head coach, if I'm the starting quarterback, whatever, if I'm the starting point guard. Even if I'm the starting point guard at UCLA or Duke or North Carolina, I'm making Bitcoin. You can't have Caleb Williams or Drake May throw a game. You know how much money those guys are making? So when I look at this, I go, yeah, he might have offered it.

Offers get, you know, thrown out all the time in any sort of industry. Can the guy, one of, whatever player he has on his roster, help my team win? Do I think he's any good? Because if I don't, then there's no chance on God's Green Earth. I'm going to draft him. My coach is making $10 million. As a GM, I'm making anywhere from two to five. My life's too good. I can't afford to travel wherever the fuck I want. I don't need your free beach house. Now, if I draft the guy because I like it, and then you give me the beach house, like, yeah, welcome to life. Now, can, you know, Florio and those type people are going to come after and try to get, you know, someone in trouble, I'm sure, but to me, to me,

it's a big nothing burger. The other interesting story is, one thing you've really seen in the age of podcasts and YouTube is the rise of these players that once they finish playing, or like in Pat McAfee's case, retire early, just to start doing content. And just because you're a former player, if you start doing content, you might get an initial boost, but your stuff's got to be good. Right, the reason Draymond Green or Pat McAfee or the Kelsey Brothers are working is because if you follow or watch, you know, or listen to their content, it's entertaining. Just because like if Steph Curry started a podcast tomorrow and it was boring, it would not last.

I remember when I was, I owned some Spotify stock and they started just hiring all these people to do podcasts. Kim Kardashian, Michelle Obama, all these huge names. And I was thinking like, well, can any of these guys host a podcast? Is it going to be entertaining? What happened after a year? Dropped them all. It wasn't working, right? Usually podcasts are run by people that know how to entertain.

And there are clearly some people in the space that are kind of natural at it, right? That are really, really good. And Pat McAfee is clearly one of those guys. And it was just reported, or over the last 24 hours, that he's leaving, you know, his operation and partnering with ESPN. And there has been a lot of blowback calling him quote unquote a sellout. And I have a couple opinions on this.

One, I find Pat very entertaining. Just because he's different. Most of the media bores me. They all throw the same pitch. Every time there's a story, I know the angle they're going to take. There is not a more predictable group in 2023 than just the general media,

whether it be in sports, whether it be in politics, you give me someone in the media's name and just give me a story, I'll tell you the angle they're going to take. And Pat's just different. You don't know what he's going to say. He just can come out of left field. He has on fun guests. They fuck around. It's very raw, real, and authentic.

Which I think we really like in 2023 moving forward. Like I think my generation, people 40 and under just aren't really into BS. You know, my parents, you know, the baby boomer generation, people that grew up in earlier generations, they could handle a lot of, you know, just fluff, you know. It just, society is just a lot different. And I think everyone that's having success now, raw and real is really it. And when you think at ESPN, you don't really feel that way, right? You don't think of that. Now, when I woke up on Thursday morning, I saw a headline from the Wall Street Journal.

And this has been well reported in business circles that Disney, has been thinking about getting rid of ESPN, right? And just kind of spinning it off into its own entity and selling it to someone. And I do wonder if that element allows Pat, because I think one of his best attributes, he's got a lot of them, is it's just kind of fearless.

He'll say whatever. And because of the platform he's on YouTube, he can swear. He can just say whatever he wants, which will not be tolerated, you know, or at least historically has not been at ESPN. Think about when Pardon My Take, Big Cat and PFT got that van show. And everyone at ESPN freaked the you know what out.

Pardon My Take is the biggest sports podcast by a pretty wide margin. They are what anyone would call in business a cash cow. They print, do you know what ESPN would have done to get involved with that brand looking back? yet they were forced because a couple people that women that work for their network, if you replace not a soul would have noticed, freaked out. And ultimately, they got fired. And you could argue ESPN might be a little different now. I don't know.

But, you know, what if Pat piss someone off and they want them gone? Now, they're paying Pat a lot of money. Maybe times have changed. But clearly he's got a lot of leverage on this. The most important thing any of us have in the podcast space is something we call IP. do you own your podcast or does someone else own your podcast? Right? Because if you own your podcast,

it's like, you own the real estate. You know? And that's very, very important. And clearly, he had a lot of leverage in the deal. He's going to own his podcast,

his YouTube channel. And the one thing, ESPN does a couple things, just like any big company that you partner with does is, Pat clearly has a lot of expenses. He's got a lot of people working for him. Well,

who do you think immediately then covers their insurance? Right? ESPN. Who do you think immediately? I'm sure he, got paid more money than he could afford to pay him or, you know, feel comfortable paying him. Probably got all his people raises. So he took care of people, right? Which I wonder, which I would imagine is a big driver. The other thing that's going to happen is they're going to put them on ESPN

on a daily basis. Like no one is watching. I think GetUp does pretty well with Greenberg, but these other shows, you know, when I was in college and even when I remember moving to Philly, ESPN's lineup in radio was remarkable. It was Mike and Mike, which you could call cheesy or whatever. It was an enormous revenue generating show. The coward to SVP and Rosillo. And I think Gottlieb was after them. I mean, it was just, it was a bohemian.

And they don't care about radio anymore. And part of radio has changed, right? Look at Colin. Is Colin a radio show or is he a television show? Now, Colin's also got podcast networks. He's got a lot going on. But, you know, it's a simulcast now. And that's what Pat is.

It's a simulcast. That's what all of this is. You got to be on video and you got to be on audio. But I do wonder if there are going to be limitations on his authenticity, which is what makes Pat so awesome. What makes, you know, people kind of gravitate to him. And I bet what he would say is, listen, our ceiling, even at YouTube, is only so high. Right? We get, you know, when we get Aaron Rogers on or a big guest on, we can get some.

six figures watching it one time. But for the most part, we're probably averaging 35, 40, 50k watching it one time. You put us on ESPN. We're immediately five, six hundred. The exposure is dramatically grown. So I always push back when someone calls someone a sellout because like money talk shit walks. In a business, you're either growing or dying. So you always got to look to grow. And the more you grow, the more people you add, the more expensive it gets. So I understand why he did And I think he understands that made some, you know, kind of like, if you get me, this is what you're getting. The problem is like, you're on television.

There are some rules, you know, he's going to have to. And he's even said that. Like, there's no, can't just drop an F bomb that that won't be tolerated. And I think ESPN is trying to, you kind of, you know, figure out a way to be kind of more relevant than they've become. Because I felt their brand has never been less strong in my lifetime. forever it was just training up, training up, training up, training up. And now it feels like it's carried by a couple guys and some games, right?

You remove a couple of their newsbreakers, Woj and Schefter in the games. Like, you know, are we really watching much of it? Not really. I know I'm not. And I am their demo, a 37-year-old sports junkie. And if you don't have either on a live event I want to watch, like today, I'm watching the PJ Championship. or a personality I want to watch and they don't have any one of those anymore. I'm not turning on your channel.

And I think rating speak for itself, the cord cutting, so they're trying to adapt. And I give them credit because this is the guy you would go after. It's going to be fascinating to see if it works. I would say that it's going to be bumpy. And people are going to complain. And because that's just a lot of the type people they have under their umbrella. Complain a lot. Always bitching and moaning.

Always, you know, pointing the finger at someone else. And most of those people that are doing that aren't that important. They're very, I hate to say it, fireable, replaceable. You know, and Pat now is not, right? So he's kind of untouchable. And it'll be interesting to watch how this all plays out. You know, as he transitions, I would imagine he's by football season. He'll be full-time ESPN.

It'll bang out a couple of mailbag questions. We'll just contain it all to this podcast, like I said earlier. and ad John Middlecoph is the Instagram, firing those DMs, get your question answered here on the show. We usually do this on Sunday, but the next couple weeks going to be busy.

Got some stuff going on, so I thought I would just contain it to this podcast. I've been an app and listener for about a year. I live in Texas. You probably have heard the deal between ESPN and McAfee.

The main part that caught my attention is ESPN is letting Pat have full creative control. And broadcasting the show live on YouTube. Do you think ESPN Big Network start offering similar deals to creators, or is this more of a deal given ESPN's popularity and existing, or McAfee's popularity and existing relationship with ESPN? I think they've been courting him now for a while. I think what he does is very, very specific, right?

I mean, he hosts NFL's King. He hosts an NFL show. Dabbles in a little bit of NBA and NHL, but the NFL is his main baby. He gets Aaron Rogers every week. he gets a ton of guests already without the help of anybody. So it makes a lot of sense. His show is clearly more popular than any, you know, ESPN radio show.

That's for sure. And that's kind of what he is, right? This hybrid simulcast like we talked about earlier. I just think he had a lot of leverage. That's what life's about, right? When you have no leverage, you do whatever they tell you. When you have all the leverage, you don't need to do this. The most powerful thing McAfee had on his hands was he could say no.

so when you can say no or are you even willing to say no even if you don't have as much leverage sometimes like a guy like Pat you might get a little more so I think the key with Pat is he did not need them they needed him more than he needed them given why I bet his offer was pretty incredible

yeah so I think part of it is less about future creators and more about his individual situation right and that's what he just yeah like I said he's got had a lot of leverage a long time listener from Australia hope you are well

what are your thoughts on the Colts draft grade given by analysts across NFL circles they've consistently received a high grade from multiple outlets however I'm not seeing it are these grades just a review of filling roster requirements or do you think we actually acquired some solid pieces like most I think

AR was definitely a reach but interested to see how it develops what's your take on development on his development surrounding his throwing ability and mechanics. I think a lot of draft grades strictly have to do with the people grading you what they thought of those players. So if I loved Anthony Richardson and thought he should go number one overall and you took him four overall and I think his upside is higher than any player in the draft, you're going to skew high, right? So then let's just focus on their first three players.

A.R. Kansas State quarterback. Julius Brents, who I remember when they drafted him seeing some highlights. I don't have a scatting report on them. And the fast wide receiver from North Carolina. Josh Downs. A lot of people like Downs, obviously getting them in third round. Never forget.

The Colts, once upon a time, had a lot of success drafting a third round wide receiver named T.Y. Hilton. I'm not comparing these two. But so let's just say they get three stars. out of their draft and obviously the quarterback, you know, you know nothing about the draft, right, in terms of how good these guys are going to be. No one has any clue.

So I guess my overall take is zero stock into draft grades. Two, I think the quarterback, they're swinging for the fences. Year one could be rocky. We won't even begin to be able to judge for three years. I think to be a good draft, the corner, the wide receiver, you got an offensive tackle, you got some other defensive players. I think you got to have, you know, four of these next. You had one, two, shit.

One, two, three, four. Four players in the top 110 and then another guy in the top 150 beside the quarterback. I think two of those guys have to be starters. I mean, one thing you guys lacked, or the Colts, I guess I'm talking to you. you like you're Chris Ballard is play speed, right? So if the wide receiver in the corner, your defense was fine. You know, in theory, your offense just lacks some juice. So if you get a little more juice with this rookie, but sometimes it's hard for rookie wide receivers.

I just think, listen, I like the mindset of the quarterback, the other guys. I can't pretend to have a take. Who the fuck knows? 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. With all this media hype around Darnold, does Lance end up on the practice squad

or will Kyle dress three quarterbacks on game day? If another team signed Lance off our practice squad, would SF save any money salary cap wise? Well, for him to end up on the practice squad, it would take this. Obviously, everyone beats them out. They would have to cut him. So if they cut him at the 53-man roster construction,

he would have to pass through waivers. meaning every team in the league would have to pass on him. Now, if you claimed him, you have to put him on your roster and take his contract. So the 49ers would be off the hook for his remaining guaranteed salaries this year and next. They would still have some dead cap issues because they gave him a signing bonus of whatever, $25 million when they drafted him. But if they cut them and no one claimed them, then they would get double dinked. and then someone could easily claim, you know, sign him to their active roster for much cheaper.

I think we're a long ways away from that, but, you know, shit. It's going to be a very, very interesting training camp at San Francisco. Question for the pot. From the perspective of a borderline draft prospect, what would the advantage be to get drafted in the seventh round versus going undrafted? A friend of a friend was immediately signed after the draft. And it would seem to me that being able to sign with whoever, might be an advantage to following with the tide of who picks you.

Given there's no guaranteed roster spot and plenty of undrafted free agents play in the NFL, I was hoping you could distinguish the two. Well, to me, there's two ways to look at it. There is, it's an honor to be drafted, right? To say whether you last one year in the NFL or five being drafted in the NFL is pretty cool, right? But the most important thing, whether you're a lot of, a seventh rounder or an undrafted free agent once the draft ends is playing in the NFL. And as an undrafted free agent, like if you draft me with the second to last pick and I'm, let's just say, a wide receiver,

because you had a fourth round grade on me and the team's like, shit, let's just take this guy. We'd want him as an undrafted free agent. Let's take him with our, you know, the second to last pick in the draft, get them on the team because we had a great grade on them. What if that team already has five guys that are a lock to make the team at wide receiver? I'm in major trouble, right? so if it was up to me and I was the player slash agent, I might not choose that team. Because as a, definitely the agent is the guy that the teams are talking with.

He is trying to guide the player as an undrafted free agent to a play. Like if I'm an undrafted free agent running back, where would you want to go? To all the shamahan guys. Why? They run the ball. You'd want to go to a place that values running. So, maybe Kyle could be,

McVeigh doesn't really as much. LaFleur, Vrable. I know technically he doesn't have a Shanahan guy, but you know what I mean? Like you want to go to a place where they run the ball. And two, you look at the depth chart. You're like, well, they only got one guy who's a lock. Then they got these other guys. You could make the roster. Or if I was a defensive lineman, where do you want to go?

To a place with a shitty defensive line. Would you rather get drafted, you know, pick, I don't even know how many picks are on the draft. Let's just, I'll just pick an even number. It changes by the year, right? $250. say 250. So 250 is the last draft draft pick. Would you rather be the 247th pick?

Again, I know this number might be wrong. But let's just say 247th pick by the Philadelphia Eagles and be a defensive lineman and be like, well, they might have the defensive line in the draft or in the league or the Niners or just a team with a fantastic defensive line. Or would you

rather be an undrafted free agent so you don't get drafted and be like, who's got the shittiest pass rush? Right? Raiders. Whoever. you know and pick that team i think it's pretty clear what you'd want to do you want to go to the best place to give yourself a chance to succeed now big picture it's hard to make the NFL so i think you can play that game and sometimes it's completely obvious right you would rather as a seventh round quarterback go to a place like i'm trying to just think off the top of my head um let's just pick a team

the bills. Just like, I might be able to make the team. Then go to a place with like the 49ers. You wouldn't want the 49ers to draft you because you're not going to be able to make the 53-man roster. Based on this year, obviously, Purdy did last year. But even last year with Purdy, if it was up to Purdy,

would he have chose the 49ers? You know, they had Trey Lance. They had just given $2 million to Sudfeld. So he was going to be the third pick or the third quarterback. Now, he turns out he beat Sudfeld out, but I don't think you would choose that team. You would rather go to a place where they had a set veteran and then maybe an older guy who might not be that good. If I explain that well.

But you see also, it's kind of easy to overthink it. Every few years, a new position is coveted by teams in the NFL. What position do you see being the next position similar to wide receiver the last few years? well, I think you can never have enough inside pass rushers, but you'd argue those are always coveted, right? I mean, the reason wide receivers are more coveted now than maybe years in the past is because it's a passing game. So who impacts the passing game?

Wide receivers, tight ends, quarterbacks, offensive tackles, pass rushers, corners. All those guys are in demand. I think it just depends on specific schemes that are having a lot of success. You know, forever, everyone, once Pete Carroll had a lot of success with LOB, and those guys became head coaches across the league, what happened? Everyone wanted tall, bump, and run corners. So it changes.

I don't have a great answer for you there. Okay, last one. Any thoughts on the Spurs winning the draft lottery? And do you think this prolonged pop staying on his coach, as he's been discussing retirement for years? One thing I think is funny, and this is why I think some coaches are better at it than others of working the media. It's weird, right? Pop's an asshole to reporters on the sideline. He has had two of the most famous tank jobs in NBA history, but because he's won, no one ever looks at him like a tanker.

We tanked for Duncan. He obviously tanked this year. Yet when other teams tank, we shit on him and destroy him. Pop can kind of get away from it. Now, it worked. and the thing with the NBA lottery is they, I'll give Adam Silver credit on this one, he changed the odds.

So just because forever you had a huge advantage if you had one of the best records, right? You're basically guaranteed to be a top three pick. Well, now the teams with the worst records, I'm pretty sure they were just fourth and fifth. Detroit, you know? You're not guaranteed anything. So there's clearly luck involved.

One take on the prospect, he clearly like, not going to try to zag on this one. He's clearly, you know, an elite prospect by all NBA personnel. When you do look at him, how often does a guy that size, you know, Kevin Durant is like an all-time outlier, right? To be that tall, that fluid, that athletic, and be that skilled as like, he's like Steph Curry, but he's seven feet tall and he can play defense.

You know, this guy's seven foot five. The concern for me would just be, does that body? Is that just too big? As crazy as that sounds, is that too big? Think about Yao Ming. When he was healthy, it was like, Jesus, this guy was, he was really turning into just an unstoppable player. But his body couldn't hold up.

Now, he's bigger, had more, carried more weight. But that would concern me. Now, obviously, you take the guy number one overall. I do think the pressure on this guy is beyond immense. You know, when I was thinking the other day, like, who are the best prospects of, like, my adult life. So from like, you know, high school on, early 2000s till now.

LeBron, I'd put Andrew Luck, you know, Bryce Harper. I mean, the dude was on Sports Illustrated in like high school and he's lived up to it, MVP's. He's a $300 million player. He's fucking awesome. Even Anthony Davis was a pretty elite prospect. Led Kentucky, number one overall pick

when you watch him play when he's on. You know, he's just an elite player. Like anything less than just every year being like an all-NB guy is a complete disappointment, right? Like the pressure on Trevor Lawrence, anything but 7-8 Pro Bowls moving forward and he plays in a conference would be disappointing giving the hype.

Because it's like, you know, he's right there with Andrew Luck. Well, Andrew Luck, while he did retire early, went to like four Pro Bowls in five or six years, you know. And he was kicking ass and taking names and winning. It was clear Andrew Luck was sweet immediately. Right? LeBron, Bryce Harper. So this guy,

he better be sweet immediately. because the hype on him is outrageous. Now, you know, it's classic TV, right? People are arguing, is he more hype prospect than LeBron? Of course not. LeBron, he was, LeBron translated better. You're like, 6-8, that big, that athletic.

When have we ever seen a guy this tall? It's just, it's very, he's just an outlier body type. And sometimes outlier body types, more often than not, they don't work. Besides some highlights, It's not like I scouted the guy, but I just, I'd be a little nervous just health-wise. And the hype is, everyone says he's going to live up to it. We'll see.

Fascinated to watch is what makes sports fun. That's what's fun about drafts, right? Hype on individual players. You know, Pop won't be there much longer. But I just, I do think the Spurs get a little bit of a pass, though. They've tanked not consistently like Sam Hinky, but they've done it. They definitely did it this year. And when it works out, everyone's,

celebrate you. Especially in a draft where you don't even need to think. The problem for Sam Hinky is he kept tanking and then he had to think and he didn't pick the right guys. Beside Joel Embed, he just wasn't picking the right players. This one is just a beep-beefatement. You don't even need to think. But it's like next year you get the number one overall pick.

It's like, I'll Caleb Williams. Okay, adios. Have a good weekend. Talk soon. Peace. Volume. 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 headwriter, 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 I-Heart 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 IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.