The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Chargers don't work, KC's offensive woes, Owners involvement

Episode Date: December 13, 2023

John dives into the issues surrounding the Chargers and how they are wasting away Justin Herbert's career by not hiring a good coach to help him succeed, what do the 49ers need to do to keep this core group together moving forward, would you rather have Bryce Young or Zach Wilson, and could we see the NFL make a similar move like the LIV tour. Later, Dan Morgan, of Morgan and Morgan, joins the show to discuss if FSU has a legitimate case after getting snubbed from the College Football Playoffs. Chargers and Herbert - 6:10 Offensive problems in KC - 14:30 49ers core group - 17:36 FT officials in the NFL? - 23:00 Young or Wilson - 39:37 The NFL and LIV - 44:43 Dan Morgan Interview - 50:30 FSU's legal case - 52:00 Working for Mark Cuban - 57:15 How to handle players ego's during free agency - 1:04:20 Follow John on Twitter, 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.

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168 hours after issuance. Terms at sportsbook. Dot draftkings.com slash football terms. What is going on, everybody, John Middilcoff, the Rene Out Podcasts? Here's the deal. Herbert out for the season. I wanted to dive into that.

And what's on the line this coming off season for the Chargers? Because news flash, it's a lot. And they need to figure it out from a head coaching standpoint. I think it's kind of a fork in the road moment for Dean and his ownership. because you can't waste Herbert, kind of like you did Philip Rivers. So we'll dive into that, and we're going to go heavy on the mailbag.

At John Middlecoff. At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs and get your question answered on the show. You guys know the drill. We also were going to have Morgan and Morgan. They've been a big sponsor. Dan Morgan, one of the partners,

not the football player, but one of the partners from Morgan and Morgan. He lives in Florida. he interned for Mark Cuban He interned for one of the NBA power agents Dan Fagan who died several years back But I mean he's one of the biggest NBA agents of all time So we'll talk to him a little bit about if Florida State has a case

And just some of his experience, you know Working for Mark Cuban and Dan Fagan So kind of interesting perspective pick his brain on what he learned from those guys I'm gonna have no podcast on Friday So today and then again tomorrow I'll have Stucky on, I'm recording with him Wednesday, and he'll be on Thursday's podcast, and that'll be the last podcast of the week.

I'm probably, I'm not probably, I'm going to do videos. We'll turn into a podcast, I guess, as well, on Saturday night because there are three NFL games, but no podcast Friday. So me and Colin went Sunday, I did a podcast Sunday, did another one Monday, doing this one Tuesday.

We'll have one Wednesday with Stucky, and then that'll be the last one until after the games on, Saturday night. Three games. Honestly, I haven't even, I don't even know who's playing. I probably should look at the schedule, but I know we got three games and then a normal Sunday and hopefully never again a double header. But other than that, subscribe to the podcast. If you listen on Collins feed, make sure you subscribe to three and out. Appreciate everyone that has. What else? Subscribe to we got a YouTube page where we put all of our content up there as well. And the volume.com, we sell merch and I'm rocking a hat that says three and out. So go get yourself one.

I need to tell you about my friends. They're the official ticketing app of this podcast and they go by GameTime. Go to your smartphone, download the GameTime app. When you do that, buy a pair of tickets. It's Christmas, right around the corner. Hanukkah going on as we speak. Give out a present to do something good for someone and save a little money while you're at it. Concerts, football games, basketball games, hockey games.

Use the promo code John when you buy your first pair of tickets and save $20. So it's a season of giving and ideally the season. season of saving, especially in these inflationary times. So you can save $20. You a Dodger fan, you want to get Dodger season tickets? You want to go to opening night? I got you cover. Watch Otani and Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. Game time. promo code John. I think two years ago I picked the Chargers to go to the Super Bowl and be a Super Bowl contender to win the AFC. Obviously, I look like an idiot. I think this year I picked Justin Herbert to be an MVP. That clearly is not going to happen. But ultimately, one thing I've never been

wrong about is Brandon Staley, and I don't have any energy or effort to talk about that anymore. That's well-established. He's not a good coach. I think this is more of a reflection, this situation, of the Chargers organization. Why would you spend, you know, $100,000 on a car, buy a Mercedes, buy a nice car, and then not get the oil changed, or not mess with the brakes when they need changing? It's like the Chargers are willing to spend on players. Of course they are. That is money that basically you have to spend on the players. Look around the NFL. The majority of teams over several year period

don't have huge gaps in the salary cap, right? This is not Major League Baseball. We get teams like the Pirates and the A's and Tampa Bay Rays that don't spend nearly as much as the next team. Now it changes on a year-to-year basis, but every team has the money to pay their own players and most teams, if they think they're semi-competitive, usually get close to that cap max.

where you separate yourself is how you spend off the field. The Chargers pay $1 in rent. And I've said over and over, they're never leaving, so it's not like I'm advocating for them to go back to San Diego because I know that's not possible. But it's never going to work in L.A. ever. Just like Steve Balmer, he can build the coolest arena possible. No one is ever going to give a shit.

They just will not. And I think the same is true with the Chargers. But ultimately, who cares? because you have a quarterback that you should be able to compete. You should be able to make playoff runs. But the only way to make consistent playoff runs is to pay a coach. And to buy and pay for a quarterback at the money which they're going to give Justin Herbert over the next several years

and not do everything humanly possible to invest in, the other most important guy in your building baffles me. And that to me is the head coach. And when I see the names being talked about who's going to be the next head coach of the Chargers, I don't think they can afford to hire a coordinator because the risk on hiring a coordinator is too much of a coin flip.

For every Andy Reed or McVey or Shanahan that come out of the coordinator ranks, there are a lot of terrible coaches that do not last long. And you can't risk that when you have a high-price quarterback who has a ton of talent. Because they did this with Philip Rivers forever. And listen, Herbert is more talented than Philip, stronger arm, more mobile, you know, basically just as big.

But there's no guarantee that he's going to have Phillips career if you keep throwing him over their head off of football coaches. You will continue to lose. Let's just look at your division. You currently have Andy Reid, who let's just say makes $20 million, and is currently the best head coach in the NFL, been to three Super Bowls in the last five or six years, won a couple of them, and is going nowhere with an all. all-time quarterback. You have an $18 million a year coach with the Denver Broncos who has

resurrected that franchise, and let's face it, his resume would say he's going to win. So if you want to just be obsessed with going cheap with your head coach, I have no sympathy for you. And I'm just going to stop talking about them if they go down that road again. If Mike Tomlin were to be fired, when Bill Belichick is available, Jim Harbaugh, these are the type individuals that you must be talking to. You need to get a guy that knows what they are doing. You can't keep hiring these Anthony Lins, Brandon Staley's, Mike McCoys, who are never going to be head coaches again. It is such a disservice to the talent on your team and the quarterback. And the reality is, Tom Telesco, most general managers do not get to hire four coaches. So more than likely,

he's done. But you can never say never. The charges are true family operations. their sons play a role in personnel. And listen, historically, definitely in my adult life, personnel has not been their issue. They have always had good players. Let's think about the other team in their division. The thing we shit on with the Raiders forever is they always pick the wrong guys in the draft.

It's like, you took this guy, but you could have had this guy. You can do that every year for like two decades with the Raiders. The Chargers draft a lot of good players and they have a stud quarterback. But if they are going to continue to go cheap on the coach, the same thing is going to continue to happen. And listen, I expect that. I don't expect them to be in the Harbaugh mix, to be in the Belichick mix. I hope I'm wrong.

I watch a lot of Charger games, definitely because of Justin Herbert, and I did with Philip Rivers. Partly, I live on the West Coast, but I enjoy watching those quarterbacks play football. But if they don't hire the correct coach or even make an effort to, they have no one to blame but themselves. and how could you look at your football team and look at the results and not think something dramatic needs to change? Like, if you don't and you do the same thing over, what do they say the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result?

And that's what I expect the Chargers do. I hope I'm wrong because I'm a fan of football. I like to see good coaches with good quarterbacks, but it's hard to believe that. Now, this feels like the season from hell, but they had some of those with Philip Rivers too and they would just go out and just hire Brandon Staley or hire Anthony Lynn. It'd be the same

shit over and over. It's just kind of a sad state of affairs right, it really is. They don't belong in Los Angeles. They have no fans and they just refuse to hire a coach that anyone else around the league really values. So

it just sucks because having good player, I mean they just basically I think they put, I mean it's not their stadium but made him whatever, the equivalent of like retiring your number or putting your name up in the rafters, Antonio Gates. I mean, Antonio Gates, Rivers, Breeze, Ladania and Tomlinson, Sean Merriman. I mean, they've just had, to this crew, Keenan Allen, to Derwin James, to Joey Bosa. Some of these guys have battled injuries, but talent has never been their issue.

Like, think how many teams you go, God, this team just can't figure it out. They just always have shitty players. They just never get the right guy. That's never been this franchise's problem. They have always had talented players. They have just had a cheap mindset, and I truly believe this. And you probably get tired of me hearing this. I think once you're super rich at the level in which you have money like the Spanosus

and you are that cheap, it's a disease. And it's a disease you can't shake. Like there's no rehab for that disease. And listen, I've always said, I understand people that are cheap that don't have money. I understand people that are cheap that are trying to build a business. When you have an operation like this that is pumping you that much cash and you're worried about saving $3 or $4 million on a head coach, shame on you.

It's a disease they have, which I don't know if his children have it, but Dean definitely has proven time and time again that he can't get out of his own way when it comes to spending money on a head coach. And now we'll see. I really do believe Tomlin might not be the head coach the next year of the Pittsburgh Steelers. They just lost to two teams with a combined 4-and-20 record. I think it's the first time in NFL history

someone's lost back-to-back games by two teams that were eight games under 500. That's one of the most embarrassing two-game stretches you'll ever see. And there's no hope in the future. It's over with Bill. It's over. Harbaugh, who knows?

He might be available. If you're not talking to those coaches and you're worried about like, oh, it's talking to Bobby Sloick, which Bobby Sloak might be really good in the future. You can't risk it. Not at this point in time in your franchise history. Get a little juice and get someone with some pelts on the wall that knows what they're doing.

Let's get to the Middilkoff mailbag. Ad John Middilkoff is the Instagram firing those DMs, and we'll start with Wade. I'm wondering why there isn't any talk about Eric B. Enamey and his departure from the Chiefs being a big reason for the dip in offensive production. Obviously, Andy is the mastermind, but it usually is the OC that implements the game plan and works throughout the details throughout the week. That seems to be the Chief's biggest problem on offense, is attention to detail.

Philly and Nick Siriani have regressed offensively when they lose Shane to Indy, but no money mentions Eric in Kansas City. What are your thoughts? Well, I think this one's pretty simple. Shane went to Indianapolis and is kicking ass and taking names with Gardner Minshu. The other thing is Shane called the place.

Andy called the place. You don't just hand Andy the game plan. when you're the offensive coordinator, you develop the game plan. That's why we're so hard on Brandon Staley and keep asking him if he's going to call the plays. He's not just calling the plays on Sunday. He's implementing that game plan with his assistant coaches throughout the week. Now, if Eric B. Enemy had gone to Washington and they had lit the world on fire and this was happening to the Chiefs, it would be very valid.

But at one point in time this season, not that long ago, they were on pace to break David Carr's single season. record for sacks in a season. They were a disaster. So part of it is what do you do? The reason Belichick got a lot of shit when Tom left, because his team won the Super Bowl. Washington's a fucking

joke. So how do I even know Eric Bain and me knows what he's doing? Right, Shane Seikin, I know he knows what he's doing. I'm watching the Colts. He's the offensive coordinator. He's got his backup quarterback and they're winning games. They're 7 and 6. They were terrible last year.

I'm watching Washington. They were better last year. So I think it's part of the yin and yang. One thing struggles, well, where that person went that left your organization, what's he doing? That would be my comment on that. Eagles fan. And I've been saying multiple fans, and I've been seeing multiple fans on Twitter, saying they'd rather get the two seed than the one seed to get the lions in the second round instead of the Cowboys. I feel like getting the buy and home field advantage takes precedent over any future matchup.

That is not even a question. One, you're not guaranteed to get the Cowboys. Because, right, the Niners would be 2-7, so let's just say they play the Packers. Niners win. Let's say the Lions play the Rams. Are the Lions a lot to win that game? What if the Rams win that game?

And you're the one-seat. Then you play the Rams, and the Niners play the Cowboys. So I don't think you ever think like that. You would always rather have the buy in the one seed. The other thing the one seed guarantees that the two seed does not is everything comes to you. So okay, yeah, you get the two seed, you get the lions, and then what did the Niners beat the Cowboys? And you got to go to San Francisco.

So I think that has to play, you know, come into play there. Big fan of the show, listening since you started. Love your 49ers fan like myself. hopefully this is the year. Do you think we can keep this team together past this season? Who would we lose to sign a yuk? I'm from London, coming to Arizona next week for the game. Is scalping tickets a bad idea?

And if we only get time for one round of golf, which course would you recommend? I would go like Raven, Whirlwind. They're a little less crazy. It depends. If you want to spend some money, I'd go TPC, or I'd go Trune, or I would go Greyhawk. But if you want to go a little cheaper, I think you can name. never go wrong with Raven or Whirlwind. Scalping tickets.

Just download the GameTime app, promo code John. Get yourself $20 off your pair of tickets. Here's the thing. Brandon Ayuk is a $20 million a year player. And the 49ers benefit from having Purdy not making any money, but they have a lot of high-price guys. Trent makes a ton. Bosa makes a ton.

Debo makes a ton. Kittle makes a ton. Fred Warner makes a ton. Eric Armstead makes a ton. Hargrave makes a ton. it's hard to keep all these guys. Now, Eric Armstead has been the nominee for Man of the Year. His nickname in the organization is the blueprint

because of his character, the way he acts. Now, he's not quite as good of a player as he once was. He's definitely pretty banged up, but they freaking love him. Now, he makes a lot of money. Now, it's hard. And one thing I learned in the NFL, like when I'd be pounding the table

when I was doing, like, watching guys on practice squads, like, we should sign this guy. He's an upgrade over this guy. Well, yeah, we, we, We value what he does in the locker room. And that's where it gets really complicated. Obviously, they value IUC as well. Fred's going nowhere.

I would say Kiddle-Dibow are going nowhere. They'll take Trent as long as he'll stay. I don't know. It gets very, very complicated. And this is what makes running an NFL operation difficult. What would Bill Belichick have done? If the Patriots were to win the Super Bowl, excuse me, the Niners were to win the Super Bowl,

like the Patriots back in the, he would trade Brandon Iyuk for a first round pick. and draft a receiver, right, or draft whoever, and use that and allocate that money other places. So I'm not advocating getting rid of Brandon Ayuk, but this is a business. And listen, I wouldn't want to get rid of Armstead either, but I would choose Iyuk over Armstead. But I know the way NFL teams think,

they value a lot what Armstead brings the table. So it becomes very complicated, very fast. Viewer from Europe, God, we're going internationally. Watching you since the beginning of last, season and really love your clear-cut takes and your realistic approach to things happening in football. My question take is about the Bengals. It looks pretty likely that they will draft in the top ten. I don't know about that.

Aren't they seven and six right now? What do you think they should do with the pick? Well, this was November 30th? What's the date? December 12th. Yeah, I mean, that's, it shows you it looked pretty disastrous a couple weeks ago. Then all of a sudden Jake Browning, I don't know, has the greatest two-week stretch of career. And this shows you. This is why investing in young quarterbacks, their character matters so much

because how hard are you going to work? How serious are you going to take your craft? How much are you going to do everything humanly possible to improve? I think about this in my profession. I'm sure many people listening think about it in theirs. Like how do I get better? How do I improve? Like the most successful people up until the moment maybe they sell their business or retire whatever to me are always trying to are curious for improvement in what they're doing to make their business bigger better and for a lot of us it's you know some sort of whatever we do for sales right marketing whatever like in football like you have to improve your body your mechanics your ability to complete throws your arm strength whatever it may be jake browning has made you look like I mean, a season in tatters, a devastating injury ruining it all to, holy shit, do we have like a legit backup quarterback? Do we have a guy that other teams are going to want? And he deserves credit.

Zach Taylor deserves credit. The organization deserves credit. It's pretty cool to watch. Not going to lie. You rail on cheap NFL owners charging for the good food from cafeteria. What can an owner do within the rules of the NFL to make a team desirable places besides his salary, which has a cap. Honestly, it's just money.

You notice, like, even for as cheap as Arizona is, if they're willing to pay a player, that player is going to go to the Arizona Cardinals. So just because I charge you styrofoam or your cup or whatever, some stupid moronic thing that no other team does, if every other team, if I'm a free agent, and the highest offer I have is $2 million, $2.5 million a year.

And the Cardinals offered me four. Like, I don't care about any of that stuff. And that to me, this is not college football, right? And even college football now, it's like, well, who's offering the most in the NIL? It just happens to be the biggest, best programs. But I don't think it matters at all. Honestly, like one iota. Why has the NFL resisted full-time officials?

I have yet to see a valid argument. Go dogs. I'm assuming he means the Fresno State Bulldogs. But he could mean, I don't think he means the Georgia Bulldogs, because they do DAWGs, the Bulldogs, the Bulldogs just do the Bowdogs. I would say it's pretty simple. If I ran the NFL, okay, make a full, what the fuck do they do all week? Do I make, is it mandatory that they move to an NFL city?

And then they have to be at practice throughout the week? Like, how do you really improve at your craft? What's the difference of just being a part-time referee and a full-time referee beside it costs me more. Like, is there a benefit from them Monday, Tuesday, Thursday? What the hell are they doing? That's any different than now? You can't just be like practicing your referee skills 24-7-365.

I'm sure a lot of these guys in their free time watch a little film do some stuff, but there's only so much you can do. Because I was probably like you, it's easy to go, wow, make them full time. That'll solve the issue. Would it? Honestly, would it have any impact? I don't know

unless you made them move to an NFL city but that assumes like what if the coach doesn't want them around on a given day and they only practice three days a week so what are they doing the other two I think it's just basic like economics what would it really change because it's easy to say make a full-time employees

okay so what do they do on Monday through Friday that's that much different than what they're doing now the top 10 quarterbacks by pastor rating this week was just funny. Quarterbacks today get more reps in training from early as middle school. And with the transfer portal, guys are staying in college longer. Do you think that the performances of backup quarterbacks, lower drafted quarterbacks, lower drafted quarterbacks will help fix the quarterback inflation in the league

or just on the side even inflate the importance of investing in a well-compensated backup? Here were some of the names of quarterback ratings last week. Jake Browning, Brock Purdy, Zach Wilson, Bailey Zappi, Tommy DeVito, Stafford, Dak, Lamar, Flacco, Drew Locke. It's hard because ideally, if I knew I could get my starter in the fifth round, like if I knew Sam Howell was going to be Brock Purdy, Sam Howell is 100% like a no-brainer pick, right?

Because you get him on this cheap deal. But what if he's just kind of good, but not quite good enough? It's why the quarterback inflation is always going to be a real thing. Sometimes you can go into an area in a city, in a community, in a state, and find a gym real estate-wise. Right? Like, you can find something for 500 grand, which for whatever reason, different circumstances, maybe a company moves there in five years is worth $1.5 million. But for the most part, the reason everyone pays the most for beachfront property, the best properties in certain states that don't have high-tax. taxes, right? Certain areas in every city that are just more desirable for a reason. It's no different

than quarterback, right? If you try to get cute and there's a huge element of luck involved, you always got to invest high if you think the guy can play because it's just that important of a position and so much if it's out of your control. So if you like the guy, surely many other people like the guy, just draft the guy. John, your podcast is the best sports podcast I've ever come across. Jacob, you are a good man. My friends and I are in agreement that this is a lot of just giving me a reach around, so we'll just jump to the question.

Who is your favorite NFL player of all time and why? What makes them stand out in your mind? I was thinking about this the other day because I was watching the Barry Sanders documentary. and I've always had this kind of thing that it's much easier to get famous now because of the internet. Like when I was growing up in the 90s, pre-internet, whenever the internet really took off, I would say early 2000s.

But like in the 90s, if you were really famous, it meant you were really fucking famous because it meant you had access to TV, the magazines, the newspapers, like you had to be on those places to be big. Now, like, I could just be a guy that has an enormous, you know, YouTube channel slash Instagram slash TikTok and be a guy that millions of people know about. But if you were Barry Sanders, because I was watching the Barry Sanders documentary and I'm like, Barry Sanders was fucking famous when I was a kid. I mean, he was on a joke franchise team, yet every kid that played pickup football, they played high school football, they played peewee football, thought at one point in time until you realize you're too slow.

I want to do moves like Barry Sanders. And I would say there was a crew of guys in the 90s that I kind of grew up on. It would be Brett Farv, Steve Young, Emmett Smith, Barry Sanders, Dion Sanders, Reggie White, kind of that crew. I think Barry Sanders and Brett Farv were two of my favorite players growing up. I mean, I grew up a Niner fan, but a lot like baseball. You know, you love Cal Ripkin or you love King Griffey Jr. or in basketball.

I love Gary Payton. You know, it's just these guys were national stars. And Charles Barkley, whoever. And I would say Barry Sanders and Brett Farv were just, and then I love Ray Lewis probably into high school for sure, just how good he was at football. So, yeah, that would probably be my answer. How do I order one of those three-out hats?

You just go to thevolume.com, and you search three-and-out merch, and you get one of these flexed hats. Really easy. to do. I think the NFL has evolved too much to have a motivator as your head coach. If your offensive coordinator is talented and gets a head coaching job, you are screwed. I know the Eagles could never have done it, but I believe they would have been better with Shane Stuyken at the helm. Siriani, Tomlin, and others are replaceable, but amazing

play caller isn't. Could not agree more. I think in this modern day time, especially the way guys are wired. You know, in the 80s and the 90s, nutrition, no one talked about like gut health, you know, no one talked about the offseason workout plan for nine straight months. You know, historically, like in the 70s and 80s, guys would show up in training camp after drinking beer and smoking cigarettes all year. So most guys now, I bet if you went around the NFL and all the good teams, their top 15 players, and just found out like how seriously they took nutrition, how seriously they take sleep, how seriously they take working out, how seriously they take training, it's probably pretty high. It's definitely higher than it's ever

been just because the information we have, from cold tubs to saunas to like everything to assign sleep chambers. So to have some motivator, most of these guys are pretty self-motivated. They really are. Now part of life is sometimes, you know, you need to be coached up or you need to be pushed, but I believe in pro sports now, more than ever in the history of the game, there are more guys. Now, there have always been guys who are intrinsically motivated, intrinsically focused, just driven at the highest humanly possible levels. But I think on the aggregate, there are way more of those on good teams now than ever before. So I'm with you. It's like, why does Andy Reid have a lot of success? Because it's an intellectual game. I'm,

scheming versus you. I'm not worried on a daily basis about pushing every guy to the limit. Half these guys are already pushing themselves to the limit. So it's much more about like, how do I put you in the position to succeed? I don't think there's a question. Now, they couldn't have fired him. And I'm not saying he should have been fired, but if you just pulled the 32 GMs right now, Shane Steichen or Nick Siriani, and this is going to sound like I'm shitting on Nick Siriani, but, It's just, I think it would be, I don't know if it'd be 32 of 32, but it would be fucking high, Shane Steichen over Seriani.

Because I know for a fact of what Shane Steichen does. What does Nick do? Prints out T-shirts, give some rocky speeches, okay. But like, does Asan Reddick? Does A.J. Brown need a Rara speech? Or does they need to be told, like, where to go? You know, what play we should run against this defense? That's what, that's why Urban.

Meier and listen, I'm not, those guys we've talked about, Siriani, Harbaugh, Tomlin, like, they have nothing in common with Urban. Urban couldn't last the season. But the only pitch Urban had was like this motivation stuff. Now, he couldn't, his motivation stuff to pros, they're like, fuck you, bro, I make $15 million a year. I make more than you. But he's not a scheme guy. There's no schematic advantage for him. The NFL is all about upstairs. It's all about outthinking your opponent, Monday, Tuesday, and then implementing with your players, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. So we can travel or get ready for Saturday and then obviously Sunday. Right? That's what the NFL is. It's not like, it's why when you watch the Lions,

I mean, Dan Campbell is a good leader, but that only goes so far. So I love that. Love that DM, because I totally agree. Hey John, this is from Emmett. What do you think is the best plan moving forward for the Vikings quarterback situation? Dobbs clearly isn't franchise level quarterback. True. Cousins is coming off in Achilles, and during his contract's over, should they consider drafting a quarterback, re-signed Kirk? Thanks, love the pot. Very, very tough question. I think you can only resign Cousins if it's a small number.

You just can't risk at his age. He's not a great athlete. It's just being over. Because even if you resigned him to one year $30 million, which if he's playing like he was just playing would be a great number, but what if he's a shell of himself? Then you're screwed. If you could resign him on like a $15 million contract,

but if he plays like he did, that thing kicks into like $35, $40 million, I would do something like that. Very incentive-based touchdowns, games played, and maybe he's rich enough, likes it enough, that he would do that. But I could not sign him to a lot of guaranteed money, and it's just the injury.

It's just basic math. He's over the hill of 35. He's going to be 36 next year. This is a major injury. He's not a great athlete. So I would say, try to do something very outside the box is probably the wrong way to put it, but incentive-laced and then try to draft a guy.

But your team, you might make the playoffs. So I think it's going to be very, very difficult. I'm a regular watcher of the show. If you can, I need you to make this a mail-back question or I need this own show because it's important. I'm a Raiders fan that is from Oakland, California. I understand outsiders view that the city is a mess, but the exact reason there is no home field advantage

is because the fan base was and still is in Oakland. My question to you is even if the organization puts a winner on the field, will things change? I personally don't think there will be will because of how much of a destination Vegas is, but the price you pay when you leave loyal fans behind. Well, here's the problem, and this is where they were stuck. I don't think economically you guys could have survived in Oakland.

One, Mark didn't have the money to build his own stadium. He needed help. And in Vegas, they're run a lot more like the mob. They passed the tax to build the stadium in a room of 12 people. There was no like city vote. It just got a bunch of yase and then it passed. Why? Because the Adelson's who just bought in the Mavericks.

That's the way shit works in Vegas. that he was never going to get private funding in the Bay Area. It was never going to happen. The reason Joe Lacob has the Chase Center is he funded it himself. They got it done. It doesn't mean you couldn't have got some subsidies, but what Jed York did was something that was never going to happen again. And I think they didn't have the money at the time either,

but they deal with the city a lot and it's a pain in the ass. So I hear you that the fans are never going to go. one, it's just a destination place like you said. It's very cool for every other team come in their fan base. But it wasn't plausible and feasible economically for you guys to stay in Oakland. And like I've said before, I was pounding the table partly because the radio station I worked for at the time, had the Raiders. I didn't want them to leave. But it's the right move.

Now, it's not a great move for your stadium in terms of the home field, but in terms of the money it gets you, the value of the franchise. whenever the Davis family sells, it's the right move for the league. And they just couldn't have sustained. No one could sustain in Oakland. It's why the... You know the reason Joe Lacob wanted to buy the Warriors? To get them the fuck out of Oakland to San Francisco.

The A's are disaster. And you'd be like, well, they don't spend any money. They don't have any fans. I've seen their radio ratings. We had the A's as well as the Raiders. When they were winning 95-100 games, no one listened. No one cared.

When the Giants are winning 95 games, their radio station does like 20 shares. It's like, it'd be like, it's not the Yankees and the Mets. It's like the Yankees and the pirates or something. I mean, it's just, the 49ers suck so much oxygen economically. It just, it wasn't, it was, he was in a tough spot and he had to go and he knew it. He couldn't sustain there. He couldn't.

And I will give him this is he was honest. You know, the A's pretended, rooted in Oakland. You didn't give a shit. You didn't, you guys were never going to stay. Which, again, I don't care about fake slogans and stuff, but I'll give Mark Davis this. He was very honest for the most part. What's your take on D.K. being so easily aggravated and not being able to control his emotions? I just think it's maturity.

Most of us men at certain points in time of our life have to grow up. I could be a hot head. Still can. I had a freak out earlier today because something happened with the internet. so I can relate and understand it. The older you get, the more you have to work on controlling your emotions, right? Especially as you work your way up professionally, as you have a family. In DK.K. Spot, like he's depended upon on his team.

You've got to find a way. It's not like other guys throughout the league don't get emotionally worked up. You've got to be able to. Part of discipline isn't just like getting up early, working out, training, eating the right food. it's being able to control yourself internally. And I'd argue not even if you play in the NFL, whatever the fuck you do. Got to be able to control those emotions. Something I've battled with my entire life.

Still battling with it. Think about it on a daily basis. Take a deep breath. Control yourself. Don't freak out. Because the moment you lose your emotions, it's a bad look. I don't care what you're doing. Whether it's to a coworker, an employee, it doesn't mean that you're right or wrong.

You're not always wrong about why you're worked up, but you've got to try to control your emotions. And as a player, if you can't control your emotions, you're useless to your team because you're going to keep getting tossed out of games. I mean, let's face it, D.K. Metcalf is kind of a disaster right now. Here's part of the problem. Pete allows it. Jamal Adams, making fun of some dude's wife

because he said, yikes, on a tweet when he got smoked. Like, Jamal, I say this about DK. At least DK's like one of the all-time great talent. I mean, he's like Terrell Owens. Jamal, you can't cover his soul. And you're making fun of this guy's wife who really wasn't even that bad looking. Like, you're just kind of a loser.

I don't think D.K. is necessarily a loser at all. I just think he can't control himself. But Pete, like, loves that crap. And it worked when you have a bunch of good players, but if you don't, you got problems. And right now they clearly got some problems. Sad Panthers fan here. Would you rather have Bryce Young or Zach Wilson?

Oh, my God. I'll say this. I watched, I mean, bits and pieces of the Saints game, he looks terrible. He looks really, really bad. And he's going to get a full, full-on free pass. The organization, the coaches, the crazy owner. And rightfully so. You deserve to get a pass when you're in that much turmoil.

But you cannot dispute if you watch the Panthers play. He looks fucking terrible. Incompletions flying over guy's head, no rhythm, no feel. he looks like an awful player. And that would scare me. Now that's happened before, guys turning around. I mean, Trevor Lawrence looked awful.

Though Trevor was much bigger. Alex Smith was terrible forever. So it's not by any means like over. It's not, the book hasn't been written. But I do think it's fair to be very, very concerned. And Zach Wilson is more physically gifted. He's bigger. He's faster.

And he's definitely got a stronger arm. But I can't trust Zach Wilson. I mean, he has one good half. That to me is very, that's a tease. Now, if he does it again against the dolphins, okay, we'll start talking. Maybe there is something there. Maybe he's kind of figured it out.

But I wouldn't, I would take Bryce, because there's much more unknown. Like, I would say the Jets would be better if Bryce was there. Like, he would look better, would be my assumption. Could be wrong. Listening to Collins' instant reaction, everything you say is right about everything in football. God, I mean, I got some smart listeners.

It's time people start respecting Purdy as one of the great quarterbacks. Also, big golfer and love live and PGA takes. I did a video last week on ROM, leaving the PGA tour going to live. Though texting with some people in the know, it does feel inevitable that both these two things are going to come together. So maybe it'll be short-lived, but what a shit show. And it's funny. I had a lot of people after. Rom left, they started DM and me tweeting at me, do you think that this could ever happen in the NFL?

The reason the professional PJ Tour was susceptible to this, they were not a well-run business. Their leadership was bad. They were not making as much money as they potentially could have, and because the way they're run as a 501C, which is a charitable organization that isn't taxed, they can't put their players on salary. It's a very complicated formula that was ripe to be surrounded and taken over, hostile takeover, especially when it came to the Saudis.

The NFL is one of America's great businesses. They're America's number one television show. Everyone in the NFL, coaches, general managers, players, is getting rich. They hand out live contracts. And then I started thinking, you know the sport that is right for a live takeover is the NBA.

their ratings are in the tank. He's lost half his viewers, Adam Silver, since he's taken over. They have a new media rights deal that is up here in a year or two. And ESPN, TNT, some of his partners are bleeding money. They're cutting costs. If he wants to do deal with the streamers, well, everything's based on views. So it's like, why would we give you more money than you got last time when your audience has disappeared? That's not the way business works.

To me, the Saudis could throw enough money around. They can get involved fast. And the NBA might become very, very desperate. Because I've been saying this forever. The NFL's media rights deal keeps going up. Why? They add more people watching. You can't double your media rights deal

when half your audience disappear. It makes no sense. Do you know one of the worst business deals currently is the one ESPN and TNT have with the league? They have paid an astronomical amount of money for certain numbers that have not been delivered. And when I think about the Saudis, now part of the reason they got into golf,

the guy Yasser, who is the prince's right-hand man, loves the sport. So maybe he doesn't like basketball. But if he did and wants to become involved, I would be circling them like Great White Sharks because it could get very ugly, very fast for Adam Silver, who I don't think will be the commissioner in a couple years, a lot like Jay Monaghan, who's surely out.

And I think they would be ripe if you can, throw some billion dollars around to get involved and get involved fast and kind of bailed them out of a situation that could get really, really ugly. I said for a while, I don't think Mark Cuban just sold because he was going to run for president. When Mark Cuban made all of his money was right before the dot-com bubble burst in the early 2000s. He timed it perfectly. Became a billionaire.com crash. He fucking got out of the fire, right?

Are we sure he's not doing that now? Are we sure he's not doing that? Does he not see what's on the horizon? That would be my guess. And I'm not, I'm not, I'm like, well, you're just an NFL bootlicker. Well, if they were having the same problems as the NBA, I'll promise you this. I would not be acting like things are going well. And that, I also think is a huge problem for the difference in the two sports.

In the NFL, when things are going well, the media treats it like politics. It's just very critical 24-7. Like, it's hard to hide. in the NBA, it's always just like a fluff fest. Even when things aren't going well, it's like, guys, we got some issues. And I don't know, it's kind of crazy. There are a lot of different variables and dynamics for that reason. Don't quite understand it at all.

Don't really care. But bottom line is the two sports are not covered the same, and one sports's printing cash, and the other one's got some issues on the horizon. So keep an eye on the side. He's getting involved there. Okay, before we get out of here, It's time for the Uber Eats player. I do coach as well.

I thought Mike give almost, almost anything to redo their game. Brought to you by my friends at Uber Eats. And I think it has to be Mike McDaniel. Someone sent me last night, and I'm recording this on Tuesday, the win probability. They were up 27 to 13 with three minutes left. Their win probability was almost like 98, 99%. Which we can argue win probability.

but I would agree when it's 23 when you're up multiple scores and you're playing that team it felt like 100%. At one point in time in the fourth quarter, I thought dolphins were going to end up winning like 40 to 13 and I'm watching the end of DeVito, I'm taking some notes, getting ready for the show

and I kind of look up and they just scored. And they made it 27-21. Obviously they go 3 and out, give it back, score again. They hit Hopkins over the middle. The dolphins are not going on the road in winning playoff games. having the number one overall seat, I've said over and over. I was going to take them seriously.

Middle coffee, you're a two of a hater. If you told me they're hosting games at the Hard Rock Cafe, or whatever they call it, Hard Rock Stadium, I'd be like, I take Miami seriously. If Hill's healthy, with Waddle, Vic Fangio figuring it out on defense, they're not going anywhere if they're the three seed. And if you've got to go to Kansas City, if you've got to go to Baltimore, I'm sorry, it's just not happening.

So that was a devastating loss. I mean devastating. I can imagine Mike McDaniel did not sleep at all on Monday night. That was this week's almost, almost anything coach of the week. And you can order almost almost anything with Uber Eats, the official on-demand partner of the NFL. Order now. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashes. human potential. Either way, the podcast 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 which I'm saying. Yep, that's me.

Clifford 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. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tap Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye They said that George Bush didn't like black people.

I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do a little kill? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English. Each episode, we pick it here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill,

waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed correct. So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you for finishing that sentence. Yes.

I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here with Dan Moore. Morgan, a partner at Morgan and Morgan, a diehard Orlando Magic fan. And like many of us that grew up in the 90s, Penny Hardaway and Shaquille O'Neal stole our hearts,

and I don't care where you lived, you had Orlando Magic swag. So live from Orlando, Dan, what's going on, man? How are we doing? Thanks for having me. No problem. I wanted to dive into something. Obviously, you guys are doing a big campaign on this show and on our network. You know a lot about the legalities of life. Most of us just kind of watch television shows and think we're, you know, could be a lawyer.

So obviously, I don't think I could ever pass the bar. So that's impressive in itself. Either it are, so anything is possible. Obviously, from a football standpoint, you know, in your neck of the woods. No, you're an SEC guy, right? You're a Florida guy. I am a gator. You're a gator.

So what was your initial take when you saw that? that Florida State was left out? My initial thing as a Gator fan was, this is a consolation prize on our terrible season. But if I was in Florida State, then I'd be pretty upset myself, obviously. I think that they're obviously probably one of the most deserving teams to win,

our team to get into the playoffs. Obviously, the way it shook out wasn't great. The committee has kind of their reasons for doing it. But yeah, if I was a Florida State fan, I would not be too happy with the state of affairs in college football right now. And from a legal standpoint, I saw within the last couple of days, DeSantis, because they're state school.

I'm a state school grad, so you get funding, you know, he's not happy. And rightfully so, because the difference of going to the Orange Bowl or the playoffs is worth potentially over $10 million is something that I read. Now, listen, I didn't pass the bar, but clearly in the language, they left it pretty open-ended. So is it fair to say that legal action representing Florida State that their case would be pretty difficult? I would say it would be a very uphill battle. We've had, I would say, I don't want to say thousands, but we've had hundreds of Florida State fans call our law firm. For us to take on this case, we actually did take a hard look at it and see if there was a way to go about it or if there was an angle to work pursuing.

It wasn't the case that we're personally going to be taken on. And obviously, our firm is in all Gators. We got a lot, our managing partner of Orlando office, our Tallahassee office, they're all null. So obviously, they're definitely trying to kind of lead the charge as well. But when you really look at, like you said, how open in it is they give kind of the criteria. And if a judge was to really look at it

from a black letter law type of standpoint, the committee did do what they said they're going to do. They took in, you know, it was that fourth prong that really gave them that wiggle room, to bounce Florida State would say, if a coach is, you know, not with the team or a player is injured, they would, you know, that gives grounds to not, you know, be included. I think that was kind of tipping the hat to maybe Harbaro if he wasn't coaching or if anything else happened, they could kind of be able to have more liberty to put who they thought the best teams were in.

And that's really what they kind of stand by is, hey, it's the best teams. If you look at, you know, again, I'm a Gator. I watch the Gator Florida State game. We were right up into the fourth quarter. I don't think any team that should be in the playoffs should be toe to the toe to the gate. I saw what Georgia did to us this year. I think that's kind of a team that should be in the playoffs.

I'm a huge Jordan Travis fan. I actually know his brother Devin pretty well as well, Florida State guy. He played with a Blue Jay. So I know the family. I know Florida State. My heart goes out to him. But I think, unfortunately,

the committee had the ability to do what they did. I understand, you know, DeSantis and Rick Scott, they're politicians. A lot of their voters are Florida State fans. So they're going to say what they have to say to keeping their good graces. But I think they should focus on some more important issues in college football. I wonder moving forward as they go to the 12-team playoff, which in theory should be easier, but we all know you see it with the NCAA tournament.

It's not going to be. If they could add, because a big argument for Florida State was, look at the betting lines. If they had played Michigan, hell, if you put them against Georgia, if you put them against some of the teams, they're a double-digit, they're 14-point underdog against Georgia. I wonder if that criteria now with gambling, it's not universally legal, right? I think it's like 37 of the 50 states,

but you throw that in a factor to even make your argument, because that was a huge argument for us sports fans. Like one guy I used to work with at Fresno State is now Norvel's general manager. I followed that program closely, and I don't think anyone would argue if Jordan Travis was healthy, even if they got in the way they got in it was ugly. They're in. But once you, you guys knocked out their backup quarterback.

So the guy we had to watch, which was kind of crazy, He slid a little late. I thought those guys, two guys that hit them got a raw deal. What are they supposed to do, float? But I wonder if you throw in the gambling element to the criteria to even make a better argument to give the committee in the future even more wiggle room. I mean, I like that. I mean, Florida is one of those states. So I'm on one of those apps now down here.

Hell yeah. And they get it right. You know, I don't know how they do it, but it's like every, you know, it's a half point. The over is always coming down to the final drive. It's always, you know, you're getting beat by two points, one point. So whatever those systems in, they know something. I mean, the real kick's going to be if Florida State goes and shops the world and, you know,

beats Georgia, you know, by multiple touchdowns, or even just wins. Now the, you know, now that I go, oh, what have we done? I don't think that's going to happen, especially with players now, not playing and all that type of things that are going on. But, no, I definitely think, you know, that's kind of what back in the day, the BCS, you know, took all the rankings. It was a computer model. It took everything they knew and spit it into a system

and said these are the four. I actually saw something this year, though. I said if they used the BCS, I think like Ford State, what would have been that fourth thing? So, you know, they obviously got kind of a raw deal this year. I wanted to talk a little bit about your background because it's pretty fascinating.

You had the opportunity to intern for Mark Cuban as well as one of the most famous agents in all of sports. Dan Fagan, rest in peace. And I get asked a lot of questions, as I'm sure you do way more than even me, you know, advice and what to do in your life. And I always just go back to, I had the opportunity to work for Andy Reid and things that you see when you work for someone that you take away for yourself and you use moving forward. So with those two guys, let's start with Mark when you work for them. Is there one specific thing that you think about more than everything else when you think about that experience and that you put toward now, you know, running your guy's company and just how you operate in business?

What Mark was extremely good at was kind of trusting his top level commanders, you know, no matter what that business was. When I first got involved, I actually met him at a political fundraiser. He was guest bartending. I just kind of walked up cold call up, you know, hey, I'm Dan Morgan. I'm a huge fan of you. I want to own a sports team one day. You know, you're an inspiration, yada.

His first reaction is like, what the hell are you doing here? You're an 18-year-old kid at an old man political. party. We kept talking and he was like, hey, who's in Orlando for the All-Star weekend? He's like, I hate to be that guy, but you got plans tonight. I'm trying to, you know, go out the town. And I said, there's Marcus Jordan, Mike, a Michael Jordan son's birthday who was playing at UCF, no I'm buddies with. I'm going to Michael Jordan's son's birthday. He said, I'm coming with. And I said, well, that night when we're out, asked for an internship, he's like, the fact that you took the initiative and you came up to me and your self-starter, self-driver,

Those are the things that I'm always looking for in people to surround myself. If you find self-starters to keep them close and to enable them and give them power. So that's what I always try to do, you know, even in what we do, whether it be managing an office or an attorney that manages case inventories or a person that manages attorneys or marketing people. And surely to find those people who are self-starters, self-reliand-reliant. They kind of know the task at hands. My dad calls them send delete people. You can send them an email and then delete it on your end. because you know it's being handled and you don't have to worry about it

and post having to follow up. Hey, I know I sent you this to do yesterday, just making sure it's done. Oh, no, sorry, I haven't got to you. I'll hop on it now. You know, avoiding those people and just find those people that you know, you can send them a task and have it handle. Mark literally had those by the dozens surrounding them. How much time when you feel like this guy might not be or girl,

ascend and delete person? Do you spend on trying to help them out before you just realize it might not be good fit because that's always kind of a tough balance is that for sure for me too especially kind of you know being one of the family members name name on the company I always try to give the benefit of the doubt and really try to you know it's not like a strike one you're out strike two year I really try to talk to them say what we're looking for sometimes too is just finding the right fit for them you know they might not be in the right role the right position you kind of can see what their skill sets are you know they might not be front facing whether it be talking to a client it might be

more behind the scenes person being like a great right writer or a great researcher. You kind of have to maneuver them and find them in their role. And just seeing why aren't you? You know, what is the hold up here? And sometimes you get people that are honest, hey, this is just a high-stress job or, you know, I'm not going to be able to handle the load that you're put in front of me. And you may kind of come to a mutual decision to part wage. You know, I've been lucky in, you know, what I've been doing, running our referrals and our marketing, I think I've only had to let go three or four people that had been higher higher up.

But I also hire people that I know from the start. So the guy that runs our partnerships with us that's done a lot of stuff with like UFC and sports teams and NASCAR. I've known him since high school. So once I was kind of building my team, I went out and got him. Now I have a guy that's helping me actually with the activation side. I met him in college and he did stuff with like music festivals and rolling loud and those. So I knew it. So I went and just plucked him.

So it's really recruiting all-stars that you know are going to be all-stars working with people. that you admire and you respect and you want to hang out with. That way it just makes a job obviously more fun. But you're actually going to put a better product out as well. How about something you took away from Dan Fagan? Dan is the master negotiator. I mean, when it comes to using leverage and getting your deal done, he is the goat. You know, his number is his number and he's going to pay it.

When I started working for Mark, I was on the Shark Tank side of deal. So when deals come in, you kind of see, are they real numbers? Is this real product? Yada yada. Before a deal actually gets inked. So, you know, a lot of those deals actually don't come to fruition because of legalities that happen in the back end. So I was kind of doing that.

But then Mark found out I was buddy for a bunch of basketball players. And, you know, we started hanging out more off court, off stuff to do. And I ended up getting channel or helping Chana Parsons land in Dallas. And then after that, all went down, Dan Fagan told me, hey, next summer, you're not working for Mark and coming to work for me. So I went to work with him. but yeah, Dan would pretty much, this is my number, this is what's happening. If you don't give me this, not only is he not coming here, but these other three players

that I represent, most likely will never play on your organization. I'm not sure of the legalities and all that back that I was just an intern. I am a license agent now. I kind of dabble that I don't do it, you know, full time. But I'm not sure if that's really the right way to go about it. But I know that he was a man with a mission, that he would figure out the best way to do right by his players. And if you were his player, he was going to get you the best. deal. You know, that's what, even my buddies that had them, they wouldn't even think about

going to another agent because he was getting it in the best deal on the table. That's what, you know, we kind of strive it more and more. And then if you hire us, you know, you're going to get the best settlement, the best birth, the best result, because you hired us. So that's kind of what Fagan, but I brought from Fagan and as many agencies that he's bought and sold and had fun to do it. Well, I think a lot of people listening, whether it's negotiating for their company, whether you're doing for a client, whether it's Dan Fagan for a player, you know, money's all relative, So if it's 100 grand or 100 million, it means a lot to that individual person. And listen, I've negotiated deals.

There's a balance of like having balls and having stones, but also kind of understanding the market. Is that a balance? I'm sure you've learned through a million cases of like there's a time to be aggressive and a time not. And sometimes it's just, do you just, you get a gut instinct of being around something long enough when you know to kind of put the pedal to the metal and go all in and also when to like almost tip your hat and take a step. step back and like this is actually a pretty good deal because it's easy for ego to get involved right oh exactly especially when you're dealing with um NBA players you know who all think they're just as good as lebron james and sure you get paid as as such um so but dan was good i kind of telling you hey it's not going to get better than this if i remember one time there was a

play it was when i was interned there a player there was an offering deal he was like take this deal as a dean you're going to get a better deal than the player like no i want to be a free agent i want go play with. I forget the third of time. He's my boy bringing a deal. And Dan's like, all right, if that's what you want to do, you need to sign this document. You know, what's this document? He's like, this is so you don't sue me. Once these deals don't come to fruition, you can't come back and say, Dan mess this up.

He's like, what do you mean? He's like, I don't think you're going to get a better deal like this if you hit the free agent market. Because this team's going to go spend this money on this guy if you burn him right now. And the player went to free agent market. The team went and got another player. And he ended up getting a deal for like $8 million less. over four years and he wanted to do.

Jesus. So, I mean, he definitely kind of crossed his season and dot his eyes and knew he was saying. But you know, it helps to negotiate. You know, when you're a Danny had so many assy at John Wall and Dwight Howard, Maristottom, I had all these names. When you're kind of a solo agent, you kind of kind of are at the mercy of the teams a lot of times. I don't know if you had a chance to see, but the, you know, the Otani deal is kind of making the rounds. You know, 700 million, but he only took two million a year for 10.

years and he got 600 deferred. And to me, right, Bobby Bonilla's deal is pretty legendary. But time value money would say he would have been better off taking that money up front, investing it in. This one's kind of fascinating because California taxes, I read next year, they're going to 14.4. So he's going to save potentially $100 million if he moves to Florida or Vegas or whatever. But what, you know, time value money, he's potentially losing some. What were your initial thoughts when you saw that? Because it's kind of a first of its kind at the level and number in which is being thrown out, right? I loved it personally.

I'm all about kind of what because, I mean, you see some, and I've been around the agency world, and I have buddies that have gone through it too, but you see the guys that get the money and they spend the money. Now you're going to spend $700 million. I'd hope not. But yeah, when I saw the deal first came out, I saw a mean that I was going around and said, congratulations to the IRS for a second to 10 years. $3.80 million. Yeah.

Contract. Like, shut off of those guys, putting in the hard work and getting it done, you know. This is historic. Congrats. But that's really what, you know, I think that's what it is. He just looked at it. Like, I can live, it's not just getting $2 million. He's new balance deals.

He's going to be probably on every, you know, cereal box and shoe box and sports store all over Asia and California and New York and Boston and everywhere else. America. So he's going to be probably still making, you know, just as much money on it. But now he's, he's protecting himself against the taxes. Like you said, he'll probably get it, get paid in the state like Florida or Texas or somewhere where the tax levels are not going to crush him. And he's going to still be living like a king in the next while he's playing for the dollars. I'm sure that if he goes to a restaurant, no one's going to be, you know, who's got the bill type of deal, you know, make sure to put his card down. But no, I think it's,

I think a lot of, I mean, to that extent, obviously, he's got a lot of money off field coming so he can do it. But I think it should be that hopefully this will somewhat be of a new trend or putting into a safe vehicle, whether it be an annuity or a deferment or somewhere where you're kind of safeguarding these kids' future. Because one bad investment deal, I don't want to name names, but we all know the people out there that are 800 million. And now they're paycheck to paycheck and on cameo.

When you were working for Dan Fagan, how often did taxes come? come up when he was talking to his client, his client to him, negotiating with the team. Just how often was that an issue? I remember him actually explaining to Dwight why Houston was better than L.A. and Dwight just not. I'm like, no, you don't understand lifestyle, lifestyle, lifestyle. And Dan's like, no, you know, this is real money you're going to,

this is what playing in Houston makes you, this is what playing in L.A. makes you. But you get players like, you know, like Dwight, who I'll consider an acquaintance and a friend, but, you know, he likes to have a big time. He wants to be where he wants to be. He wanted to be around Hollywood, and that was, sometimes that is worth the tradeoff. You know, do you want to live in Oklahoma City

or do you want to live in New York City? And in KD, you know, he had a lot more fun probably in Brooklyn than he did in OKC, and now he's team first in Phoenix, which is a good mix of the two probably. But I think a lot of it, I mean, when you get into the NBA and the baseball of it, because they do get taxed by state too. So, but, you know, half your home game,

it's a lot of money. So, you know, Paul Bancaro, if he stays in Orlando, you know, knock on wood, they max them out. He's going to make a whole lot more money

than if he goes and plays for the clippers. Because half his games will be in Orlando opposed to half them being in L.A. But no, I think on, as the money gets bigger, it's more a factor. But if you're making,

you know, because that's when you realize, wow, that could be $2 million bucks in taxes as opposed to all that's only, you know, 200,000 taxes. Yeah, that might be worth $200,000 a year to live in 72-degree weather and have it rain five days a year.

For sure. And I want to get you out of here on this. Obviously, you guys are doing a big activation this year. I see you guys everywhere. Just tell us a little bit for the people.com slash john. What you guys are doing, what you guys stand for and everything about Morgan and Morgan. So yeah, we're a planet first law firm. Our slogan is for the people.

That's kind of what we do day and day out. We would kind of represent the little guy, whether it be against insurance companies or pharmaceutical companies or medical malpractice. We're an injury law firm. We're the largest injury law firm in America. As of, I believe, this year will be over 1,000 lawyers, over 5,000 support staff. We're in all 50 states. We're over on 200 dockets a week, you know, in courtrooms getting verdict. We've over this year old passed a $20 billion mark on settlement money recovered via verdict or settlement.

or any types of litigation. So we're definitely in a grow mode. A lot of people know us. You know, we're down in Florida, southeast, northeast, and now we've been expanding out to California in the past three, four years. And now, like I said, we're in every state. So my dad has a slogan, grow or die.

So we're trying to continue to keep growing. I like that. We're infiltrating new sectors and new areas. We just, you know, we were the official law firm of the UFC. We just did a law firm. We just did a deal with the PBR bull riding. We sponsor. I got my RCR hat here for Kyle Bush and Austin Hill. We'll be on Kyle Busch's car for the clash out there in L.A. in February.

So we're definitely trying to push and get our name out there and let people know that Morgan Morgan's here. We're here to stay. We're the biggest, we're the baddest and definitely think of us if you ever need us. Well, I know this. You said you were running the marketing at the company. It's working because I see you guys. Obviously you guys are on my podcast, but I see you everywhere. So congrats on all the success. and, you know, hopefully the Orlando Magic, maybe in-season tournament next year, their year, you know? Playoffs. Yeah, that's more important.

Well, thanks, Dan. Appreciate you coming on and have a great day. Thanks, having me. The 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 Side,

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