The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Dak/Lance Succession Idiocy, Stafford Relatability Issues, Post-Cut NFL Path, Mailbag

Episode Date: August 29, 2023

John explains why the hot take that the Cowboys traded for Trey Lance to eventually replace Dak Prescott are so mind numbingly stupid, how Matthew Stafford’s issues relating to teammates is symbolic of an upcoming disaster season, and the NFL path for players that get cut during training camp. 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.

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Tuesday, Wednesday, probably even to Thursday. So a lot going on around the NFL. We will put a bow on the Cowboys Trey Lance conversation, as well as the story about Matt Stafford, I guess, struggling to relate to some of his teammates.

We will dive into that. As well as just, if you do get cut and you're a young player by no means with practice squads the size of they are, mean your career's over. Actually, you're just a snapper two away. And we will dive into that entire process. As well, yesterday we did a big podcast,

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Obviously games, concerts, comedy shows, you name it. got interactive maps on the app, cannot recommend them enough, been using them forever. Game time promo code, John. Okay, I thought I was done with this conversation, at least in the short term, until I opened up the internet this morning. I saw clips from different shows. I turned on the television and saw the talking heads, all discussing the low-hanging fruit, which of course they were, is Trey Lance eventually going to replace Dack Prescott? Did they trade for Trey Lance to kick Dac Prescott to the curb because he's going to be too expensive?

I have seen so many different angles and takes from the talking heads that just made me laugh. You guys do realize that Trey Lance, and I think, listen, Jimmy Garapolo, in terms of his teams have had more success than Dak, I do think most of the most of the last. I do think most, you know, level-headed people, whether you're a Cowboy 49er fan or just a universal football fan, would agree, DAC is better than Jimmy Garabla. The 49ers would have had similar success, if not more, if they would have had DAC over Jimmy.

Both have some flaws. I think DAC is the better version of Jimmy. You could argue with me, I feel pretty confident about my stance. And you guys know, I'm not the biggest DAC guy. I think he's fine, but don't love paying premiums to find. right. Same with Cousins. Dak or Jimmy's behind them. Same with Derek. They're all kind of in that vicinity, right?

Somewhere between quarterback 10 and 14.50. Now, Dax's good when he's on can look fantastic. A lot like Kirk Cousins. Dak in that playoff game against the shitty Tampa Bay Bucks goes, God, I'd give this guy $40 or $50 million. And then he plays the next week. You're like, what the hell is this? No, it was against the number one defense.

But regardless, sometimes you need to rewind it. Trey Lance had no chance of beating out Jimmy Garoppolo as a rookie. Understandable, number three pick hadn't played. The following season, the 49ers have told people privately. Remember, Jimmy was like on the side working, he was injured, they couldn't trade him. If Jimmy was just on their team, and I was going to these practices in 2022, it would have been not just inconceivable. It would have been impossible.

Trey Lance would not have beaten him out. So if it was a fair and square, just like, okay, unlike the previous year, where we're just naming you the backup quarterback. This year is a competition between you and Jimmy. He would have lost. We saw this year he lost the backup competition to Sam Darnold that Kyle claimed 10, 15 days ago to me. That was over in like the off season. So he's never won a true quarterback competition since he's been in the pros.

He is two years away, best case scenario from just being a functional player, where he's going to a place where he's never going to play. So there is a big picture topic in Dallas. I think Dak's cap number next year is enormous. I think it's like $59, $60 million. I looked at it earlier today. Obviously, the Cowboys, and rightfully so, have been very, Jerry Jones loves Dak Prescott.

Sometimes I think he's a little over the top, but I get it. Once you get, listen, I worked in the league. When you work in a building with a guy and he's a really good player and he's a great person, you end up loving the guy. Like when I was in Philly, we love Shady McCoy and Brent. Selleck. It was easy to like certain guys on your team. Their personality, you spend a lot of time with them. And I understand why Jerry likes Dak Prescott, probably more than 99% of people that work in the NFL. It's very understandable. But Jerry also knows that Trey Lance is not even in the same

universe as a player. That's not why he made the Trey. We discussed this yesterday. He's a dealmaker. He's, you know, he struck a big in oil. Jerry likes taking some big swings. I don't blame him. I think it's enjoyable. It makes this league pretty entertaining. It makes the Cowboys kind of entertaining. Because Jerry does some off the wall shit. And I think Jerry would tell you right now, I gave a fourth round pick. We're going to be good. What is that? Pick 130 and a couple million dollars. See how much I'm worth? I don't care about any of this. It's a flyer. It's worth it if it does pen out. He's not wrong. But this notion that Trey Lance could take over for Dack Prescott is not just laughable and unrealistic. It's borderline impossible. It's not going to happen.

Hell, if Dak Prescott got hurt, he wouldn't even be the first guy Mike McCarthy went to. We're talking about the third string quarterback. The other thing I hadn't really thought of, but I saw a couple of people saying this. And then I Gottlieb filled in for Coward Day on the radio. And I went on a show. And Gottlieb asked me if I saw parallels between Aaron Rogers when they drafted Jordan Love to kind of, you know, just light a fire to create some urgency. like I see with them trading for Trey Lance and Dak Prescott.

And I say, actually, I don't see any. Because people forget when they drafted Jordan Love, Aaron Rogers was, one, was much older, and two, it looked like might be trending down. Like, his career might be much closer to ending than going to win two MVPs. The other thing is Aaron Rogers, once he got to practice, got to know,

he never had an issue with Jordan Love the guy. If anything, he's over the top and how much he likes Jordan Love and is rooting for the guy. He had an issue with the mindset behind the front office. It was an FU to Aaron. But once he saw the guy, one, I don't care who they would have drafted. That guy was never beaten out Aaron Rogers. And two, he saw it with his own eyes. Like, yeah, I don't have to worry about anything.

Well, Dak Prescott already knows. This guy couldn't win the backup job against Sam Darnel. So from a player standpoint, it doesn't cross Dax's mind. And it shouldn't. Like, this guy is coming in. If anything, Cooper Rush is like, are they going to like this guy more than me because they're paying him some money, even though I know that I've proven more in the NFL? But to think that Dak Prescott, one, is worried about being replaced.

And two, they're using this to kind of create some urgency for him to play better, to be more focused, whatever. I just don't see it. I think this move was very black and white, was very, on the most, basic level was Jerry just saw the potential to get some value. And if it doesn't work, nobody cares from the Cowboys. And I think I said this yesterday. And I've, I've said this, talking about this situation a lot, no one. And I repeat, no one, no team, no coaching staff, no front office, will ever remotely care about Trey Lance and have the desire to see him

succeed like the 49ers did for those two and a half years because of what they invested into them. Not the $30 million they paid them, but the picks. And what ultimately those picks represent and now I think is universally known as the worst trade in NFL history. The Cowboys, let's just say hypothetically, Trey goes third quarterback, I don't exactly know how they run practice. Part of the way the 49ers, we talked about this was only two quarterbacks play. One guy with the starters during practice and the other guy with the scout team. So if I have a third quarterback, he just stands there and watches. He might as well be running gasters on the sideline.

Now, maybe Mike does it a little different at practice, but there is a chance to trace his reps at practice are closer to Zilch than they are splitting reps with anybody. So Jerry doesn't care about any of that. Like Jerry's not, Jerry doesn't set up practice. Hell, Jerry's not even involved with who's running scouting. That's Mike McCarthy's deal. That's what makes Jerry so unique when it comes to being the GM.

He can do a way. whatever the fuck he wants at any moment, which has to be a pretty incredible feeling as a human being. Most of us, most people listening, and I know I am kind of jealous. I would love to have that feeling of just, I own an NFL team. I'm also the GM. I can just do whatever. And as he said, like, yeah, Mike didn't even know. We told him after the fact. And I've said this before, too, like, what if Mike, he claimed Mike liked him, but are we sure? Here's what I know. I know Mike likes Dak Prescott. He's won a lot of games in the last two years. And, Clearly he likes Cooper Rush.

So I saw this when I scouted with Philly. Position coaches and head coaches just because scouts in the front office like a guy, even though Jerry's the owner just because he likes a player. And I don't even know how much he actually likes Trey. It's not like he broke down the film. Doesn't mean the head coach who actually is the one calling the plays. And setting up practice actually does. So when you force players on guys,

and I'm not saying Jerry forced this player on him, but there's no guarantee. like, Jerry ain't going to practice every day. No chance. None. Jerry probably comes to office a couple times a week. So, Jerry was told he said in his press conference, he's like, I heard after, heard after the fact that Trey Lance played really well against the bears in a monsoon. No, Jerry, he did not. He looked terrible in that game. Do you think Jerry was breaking down the film? Most GMs, I would say all of them, if they're making a big trade, are the ones watching the tape working with their scouts.

That's not really how the Cowboys work. And ultimately for this move, doesn't really matter because they have a starting quarterback. I do think there are some complications to the negotiations, right? Because if you're DAC, you're like, well, I'll take a four-year extension at $180 million, right? Guarantee me $150. He was just making $40. At minimum, he's going to want to raise $45 million. Like, I'm making Pro Bowls.

I'm leading us to the playoffs every year. I've got to be worth more now than I was years ago. So it's, you want to pay premiums for premiums. Easy to pay Joe Burrow a lot of money. Jalen Hertz after he takes you a Super Bowl. Obviously Patrick Mahomes, Nick Bosa, you name it. Trent Williams, the elite Micah Parsons. It's like, whatever, we've got to overpay a little bit.

You know, Dak, it is, no matter how much they openly talk about their love for them, Which I get. It's easy to like high character, good people. Those are most of the people all of us want to be friends with, want to be in business with. Ideally, you get the high character, great humans who are elite at their job and whatever your business is, you make a lot of money with. But sometimes, like in this situation, got some flaws. Doesn't have the greatest arm, turns the ball over a little bit too much, hasn't proven

in the biggest moments in the playoffs, since really his rookie year when he played really well in playoffs and they lost the Packers, that he can play well in these big spots. And maybe Jared would be like, listen, we ran into the top defense in the league a couple years in a row and it was tough. But that's who you're going to play in the playoffs. So I think there's a lot of urgency with the DAC situation. But I think Trey Lance factors into that much closer to zero percent than what some of these people are talking about because it's just he's a non-factor in the DAC

Prescott situation. And a huge reason he hasn't played. and one, how's he ever going to play to prove anything to anyone in Dallas? 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-Hart 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, Clivert Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, 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,

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And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. I saw a story today, which was quoting the wife of Matt Stafford, Kelly Stafford, discussing Matt struggling to connect with his young teammates.

Obviously, the Rams have a lot of young guys, a lot of turnover on their roster. And one thing she claimed is like, these young people just look at their phone all the time. They don't even look them in the eye. and when they do, they like call him, yes, sir, no sir. They almost speak to him like an authority figure. And Matt's uncomfortable.

He's like, I'm your teammate. We're all on the same level. I might make way more than you, but I'm going to throw you the ball. You're going to block for me. You're going to make tackles when I'm on the sideline after we score. Like, we're all on equal footing here. And he had the equipment staff essentially print out like pictures of these guys from Instagram and Facebook of their pictures of what they.

like so he could figure out who everyone was because he was struggling to connect. And I, you know where I stand on the ramps. I'm out. I think they are going to be terrible. Clearly the Cardinals who cut Colt McCoy, who was banged up last year and maybe I have a false sense of how good Colt McCoy is, loved him since college. And a couple years ago, he lit up the 49ers like he was Carson Palmer, but that's not the norm.

So cutting Colt McCoy actually isn't. that crazy. Kyler's hurt. They'll go with Tanner Mews and Joshua Dobbs and they're cool with losing. They're going to try, like in theory, like their players will try, their coaches will do game plans. They're just going to lose a lot. I think the same thing's going to happen to the ramps. And I do think this symbolic of like, they're just kind of all over the map, right? They got this quarterback who they paid a ton of money. I Googled the day, well, I didn't, I went to Spot Track. I just typed into Google, Matt Stafford's contract. I was like, How much is he making again?

They guaranteed him $130 million when he signed his contract after the Super Bowl. His dead cap, they're stuck with this guy for years. So even if they bottom out this year, he gets injured and they end up drafting a quarterback, it's not like they're cutting him. He's still going to be around. And this gets to the like, Sean McVeigh by the end of the season, when Matt Stafford inevitably gets banged up and clearly him, teammates, don't even know each other, is going to be over this. And honestly, it felt like

this off season, when Coward reported, they tried to get him to take a pay cut. When Michael Lombardi reported, they tried to trade him. Like, Sean McVeigh, listen, I can be impatient as well. I bet a lot of people listening have some patience issues. We're all human beings, especially us, alphas, we just, we get short fuses. And that's something I've really worked on as I've gotten older, trying to be more patient, but it's hard. I never fault anyone for lack of patience. It's a difficult trait to have. But when it comes to football and being a football coach, there is a balancing act.

How can you go? And I get emotions were high after you win the Super Bowl to giving a guy $130 million to a year later trying to get him to restructure slash trade him. And that's Sean McVeigh. I've been saying this forever. I think he's a better version of the younger John. Gruden and John Gruden was notoriously known for being hot and cold with players. One day he loves you, the next day he wants to replace you, which historically in the NFL, when contracts were

much smaller, whatever, like replace you, treat you like a stock, one day you're in, one day you're out. In modern day football, you've seen this with Sean McVeigh. You can't, and Sean, it feels like falls in love a little stronger than even Gruden, you sign these enormous deals from Todd Gurley, the last year, Alan Robinson to a couple years ago, Matt Stafford. And then you're just kind of over it, which the problem is with guaranteed money impacts your books. And your ability to add people on and off your roster are dependent on those books. And because you give out enormous signing bonuses and guaranteed amounts of money, you're kind of getting stuck with players.

The reason Matt Stafford had no trade value this summer was easy to see when I looked at his fucking contract. Just like Todd Gurley, you couldn't give him away. You had to cut him because I can see after the season ends, you make a Super Bowl run. You win the Super Bowl. It's like, give him whatever he wants. And then six months later, you're over it.

Either because the guy is injured or you just realize, God, I made an emotional decision. And I think for his, I don't even think the story was that weird. Because I think young people are not alone. I think it's absolutely bullshit. I am as guilty as anyone on my phone. It is, I do not have an addictive personality. Like, it's impossible for me.

I mean, I've never tried, like, hard drugs, but alcohol, you name it. I don't get addicted to things. If anything, I'm addicted to, I guess, football. But I've seen people addicted to football. Like me, Andy Reid, don't have much in common. Right? So I just my addiction, I don't think I have an addictive person now, but I can't argue that I'm pretty addicted to my phone. I'm not proud of it.

Honestly, at times, especially if I'm there by myself, I think it's kind of sad. Honestly, kind of embarrassed about it at times. But there's nothing I can do. I just try to justify it by the way I feed my unboard children, the way my life, what's paying for my new house is like through the phone. That's how I earn my business. But like I said, not proud of it at all. And if you're my age or older, you grew up in a generation that this phone, you didn't have a computer in your pocket. First phone I had was a Nokia.

The game on that was Snake, which was freaking awesome. But if you showed a 20-year-old snake right now, they would laugh at you. Right? I mean, I could download basically any game in America on my iPhone, I'm sure. Madden, NBA Jam. you name it. NBA Jam even makes me sound old. My point is that we live on these things. So I think when Matt Stafford, who is like the hybrid of both generations, like he's closer to my age, so he used to just be in a world in college and even early on in the pros where the phone didn't do

absolutely everything. I don't fault any young person for looking at that thing constantly, especially a young athlete from a major program who all they've gotten so much validation. I'm not saying it's healthy, but it's very, very understandable. And guys like Stafford and Peyton Man, these older generations, clearly Aaron Rogers. You can say it's propaganda or whatever on Hard Knocks, making Rogers look like this high-level guy. I do think he's gone above and beyond to try to connect because you have to, right? We all do.

Sometimes we'll be laying in bed like watching a TV show and I'll look over. We'll both on our phones. And we try to be like, hey, let's just put our phones down. and watch the show. And then one of our phones will buzz and we'll pick it up. I'm sure everyone listening can relate to this. None of us are proud of this. They're not.

And the only person proud is Apple because they fucking sell more phones than they know what to do with. And I'm talking into a Mac looking at an iPad with my phone on the other countercharging. So they're the only ones truly smiling over this is they've addicted us all. And we can't live without it. And it definitely makes in. a world, right, where you do still have to connect. You do. Because people do business with people they know, right? People, these teams that are really close, like Mahomes and Kelsey and these guys are really tight-knit, right? The 49ers, I've seen it for years. The guys are friends.

And to create any sort of friendship, a close-knit bond, there's a human element to this all that the phone and just the devices remove. And I understand. Matt Stafford, like, ideally would he like his wife to out this to the country? No, that's not the Rams problem. The Rams problem is their roster blows. The Rams problem is they put all of everything they bought on a credit card. Now, ultimately, that led to a Super Bowl. But now the bills do. And they haven't had it. I think I heard someone say this. I mean, it's probably real. They have one first rounder on defense. Sarandonnell.

Their team is like a three-headed monster and a couple of them are already turning a look. Cooper Cup's been injured now. He was injured in training camp. He was injured last season. Stafford's just a weathered 35.

Any Detroit Lion fans knows, he got the shit kicked out of him for years. And I have a lot of admiration for Stafford's toughness, his grittiness. Obviously, his arms elite. That's why a lot of people rooted for him. It's like, God, this guy kind of looks like a a Farvian lion here, but he was just getting peppered.

And he's not your typical, like 35-year-old in the NFL. Some of these guys, like when Mahomes gets there, when Burrow gets there, when Herbert, when Lawrence, when they get to 35, they're not going to be as weather to Stafford. They played in the league that protected them. And some of those guys are obviously, have bad injuries. Stafford came into the league in a time where it still looked a lot closer to like the 1985 Bears.

where people could get decleted. There was no defenseless receiver. You know why? He was just called a receiver. There was no helmet to helmet. It was just called a tackle. It's the football I grew up on and loved. And I've said forever,

I understand why the NFL regulated it out and just got away from that. One, obviously, CTE, the lawsuits, and just they have to keep their quarterbacks upright. But one of the most famous staffer clips is a lion is that moment, it's either a shoulder or rib against the Browns. He gets destroyed. It's like he couldn't even barely move. And he found a way to win the game.

It's like a legendary clip. And that that's different NFL than now. So this is going to be a big story. Like, whatever. I probably don't have that much in common with a 22 year old. It's honestly pretty remarkable. I always thought this about coaches, how a guy, 63 years old could get so close to someone 20 years old. It's now usually they got to be good players,

but coaches are good at it. It's harder and harder to relate to people that grew up dramatically different than you in terms of the way they look at the world with technology. But that's just not this. The Rams problem is they stink. And Stafford is just probably going to get hurt. And they're probably not going to win many games. You know, so this story is going to be big for a couple days. who cares? It doesn't matter. Part of the problem is he has to learn these guys' names because they're probably fringe NFL players. He didn't have to learn Jalen Ramsey's name or Todd Gurley's name.

I guess Todd wasn't on the team. But you know what I mean, right? He didn't, Andrew Whitworth, nice to meet you. I already know who you are. So, yeah, you just, McVeigh's got to learn to be a little less emotional when he signs these contracts. And they just, this is going to be a long season. It really is. One thing that's about to happen is, and some of it's slowly been happening, is you're going to cut your roster. You know, not every team's at 90, but between 85 and 90 guys down to 53 men, right? And they will, quote, unquote, be your official roster, which is obviously very fluid.

And just because you make the roster on Tuesday or Wednesday does not mean you're going to play week one. Does not even mean you're going to make it to practice next Monday, right? Guys are getting cut. Guys are getting clans. but I was reading Peter King and he had a good point. He said a GM told him, we don't look at it like 53 guys. We look at it like a 69 man roster. And it's so true.

Obviously, if you make the 53 man roster, it's an incredible accomplishment, especially as a late round pick as an undrafted free agent. It's just an incredible moment for you individually, for the program that you came from, for your family. It's awesome. but making the roster tomorrow or Wednesday is a lot different than actually playing in a game this this year but just because you make a roster some guys never see action some guys are inactive every single week some guys you know get to play week one you know especially if you're

a high round pick but you never know it's a very fluid situation but i thought about like it is a 69 man roster because the NFL the amount of guys that get injured the amount of teams that underwhelm and just bench guys, most guys on your roster are not Matt Stafford or Aaron Donald that aren't just on scholarship, are being paid so much money no matter what, are just going to play. Right? And when I say Aaron, obviously, he deserves to play. But like, the only way Matt Stafford is not playing is injury. It's what I say about Dak Prescott. Like, Trey Lance isn't sniffing the field if Dak Prescott can play on Sundays, even if he's banged up. if Dak Prescott is physically able to play Sundays,

he's a 17-game starter. It does not come out. Most positions, though, half the league is going to go under 500, meaning that they're going to have some rough stretches, rough losses. Well, most of the guys in the league are on easy contracts to replace. You're not paying that much money.

You go, let's bench this guy. Let's cut this guy. And when you do that, the 16 guys on your practice squad, usually one of them gets elevated and those guys get a chance to play. So while it sucks relative to making the team to get cut and then having to go to a practice squad, relative to the rest of America, pretty good. You get paid $11.5,000 a week.

Now, it's a week by week contract. So you're not guaranteed to make the whole season. You can be cut at any moment. But if you play the entire season, you make over $200,000. So relative to most of your peers, like most 22-year-old, who aren't technically on an NFL roster, $200,000 pretty good. But if you get called up and you get your opportunity, which a large percentage of these people get,

if you think about the 90-man rosters, I was thinking about this the other day. I would say probably on average, there is somewhere between like 75 and over, just probably don't have any business being in the NFL. They're just kind of filling. They played in college. but they're not NFL players.

They're kind of tweeners. Like in baseball, they call it like the 4A guys, right? They're good enough for AAA, but they're definitely not good enough for the majors. So that's a lot of guys, right? You're good enough in training camp. The position coaches like you. You play in the fourth quarter of the preseason games,

but you're never going to be good enough to play. The NFL, they don't even honestly really want you for the practice squad. They definitely don't want you for your 53. Yeah, man. Then there's the group from like 54 to 75 that are all like a snap or two away. from a year of improvement, from being a backup on an NFL team, from having a five, seven year career.

Every single guy in the NFL, we say this all the time about the backup quarterback, one snap away. Well, if you're on a practice squad, you're literally a bad couple games or a couple injuries away from being the starter. You're an injury away from getting called up and being the backup.

So I see a lot of players, and I'm sure a lot of you listening, follow guys on Instagram, follow guys on Twitter. They get very sensitive. Like be very, you know, just treat these guys like humans, right? Don't be like, oh, yeah, this guy got cut.

He sucks. And I agree. But most of these guys getting cut aren't like being told you're done. Give me your key card. Give me your playbook. Get the hell out of our building. They're literally being told, keep your playbook. We want to resign you.

We hope no one else wants to sign you for the practice squad. Show up tomorrow. That is 16 guys a team. I mean, you're talking, there's a lot of people. 160, or I mean, 16 times 32, you're talking about a lot of players that played in the preseason. While they're being cut, they're still being, hey, we want to give you $200,000.

And we just need you to show you can improve doing X, Y, or Z. And if there's an injury, if there is underwhelming play at your position, we think that you could help us out this season. So this notion that I think a lot of, players when they throw this out there, everyone getting cut, nobody wants them. That's just bullshit. That's just not the case. From 54 to 69, those are guys that you want around. And really, you view, when you, when you resign a guy to practice squad, you have to view them

as having upside to make your roster. If you don't, you try to sign someone else. And once I cut you, obviously I can claim you, but if I don't want to claim you, because I have to put you on a 53-man roster. I can sign other guys that go unclaimed to my practice squad. So I go, hey, we have this corner on our team, put this corner on the Patriots who Bill Cut. We'd rather have that guy on our practice squad. And hell, you can offer more than 115 a week. You could offer the rookie minimum. Now, obviously, to make a team as a rookie, the lowest amount you can make is 750 grand. So there is a big gap from 200 grand and 750. Last time I checked, that's almost 4x. So I'm not acting like you don't want to make the roster. Clearly, that's the goal of every

young player in a training camp. My ultimate point is being cut over the next 24, 48 hours and being told, you've got to come back on practice squad is not the end of the world. I mean, you're closer to playing by like week two than you ever realize. And it's going to be all over the internet devastation. It's not that bad if you're in that group, which as we just did the over half the guys on every team getting cut are in that group. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque.

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

I don't care what 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 Clivert Show isn't just a podcast, it's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So, if you've ever supported me, or you're just chasing down a dream, this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes,

follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Let's dive into a little mailbag. You guys know the drill. At John Middlecough. At John Middlecough is the Instagram. Fire in those DMs and get your question answered here. A little thing we call the three and out podcast. Start with Seth.

Not a question, but I'm pretty tired of all the outrage over the Niners. And these people like Ryan Clark asking, when were leadership be held accountable for the Trey Lance debacle? To me, that's like being critical with Mark Cuban because he's had some bad investments along the way that lost some money, instead of focusing on the big picture that he's a freaking billionaire. Anyway, love the pod, go Niners. Don't hate your analogy. I would say the equivalent of a billionaire in the GM coach's fear would be Super Bowl champs. So if you want to be critical that they can't get over the hump, but I'm with you.

Like football, the train moves on, Purdy's way better. They like Sam Darnold dramatically more. And they don't think Trey Lance is any good. And I give you a lot of credit, no matter what industry you're in, especially in sports when you invest a lot. And in football, with a young player, it's always going to be a big draft trade. It doesn't work out.

You pivot. The faster you pivot, the faster it is to move on. It's very, very difficult in the Stafford situation. If he ends up getting injured and can't relate to anybody, and it's just kind of over.

Like, ultimately, Sean Payton, even if he does move on from Russell Wilson, if it turns out he's actually watched, you're kind of stuck. Like, you can attempt to move on, but that albatross of a contract on your books limit you. With these rookie quarterbacks, we've been talking about this now for a couple weeks. If you're going to miss now, don't miss on the trade to acquire the player because of what it does. It limits your ability to make moves with the salary cap, right?

Like, and sometimes that's injury too. Like, I think Jalen Ramsey has been one of the better corners in the league the last decade. But once you trade for him and he gets injured, like, that's pretty devastating. obviously he doesn't want to get injured, but the impact of that contract giving you nothing is hard. Now, luckily with most players, non-quarterbacks, you're only stuck for a year or two. With these quarterbacks, it's a problem, right? Trey Lance wasn't. They moved off the contract pretty easily for a fourth round pick for a guy that was their third quarterback.

And like I said, with the Cowboys, totally understand it, taking a flyer. Jerry's a wheeler and a dealer. whatever works great. If not, screw it, we'll move on. We're not really that obligated. But I'm with you.

Held accountable. What the fuck does that mean? They're rattling off wins. I'm a big Mike Tomlin guy. And I think the Steelers picking them to win the division. If you wanted to be critical, it's like, what's going on there?

We got to start to win some playoff games. It's time to win some playoff games. John Harbaugh, are we going to win 12, 13 games? Now we're paying Lamar. Right. This guy's winning. He's won four playoff games last two years.

K-O'd Aaron Rogers two years ago. On the road, Lambo Field, beat Mike McCarthy two years in a row, once at home, once on the road. Sweep Pete Carroll last year. I put a couple grand on him to win the NFC championship, and I felt pretty good about it until the second snap of the game. Maybe it was the third snap of the game. And pretty got injured. So, like, held accountable.

The whole point of this sport is to win. That's the whole point of this thing. I don't care what you do in free agency. I don't care. I don't care. You can pay Russell Wilson $700 million. If the Broncos were winning 14 games a year, no one would give a shit. No one would care.

I always love this like the GM, the point that they got to be great at drafting. Yeah, they also got other roles. They're usually in charge of hiring the coach. They're also usually in charge of free agency. Like, ultimately the goal of a GM of a coach of any executive in sports is to figure out a way to get a winner. Whether that's landing Kevin Durant or Peyton Manning in free agency or wheeling and dealing in the draft. But we judge you on the results. It's the best part of sports.

It's the best part of football. All of our jobs, right? All of our jobs can be very fluid in how you judge it. Like in mind, like how many people are listening, how much revenue we're generating. But we also, we always could be like, well, could we get increased that by 10%? Can we increase that by 20%? Can we improve? Can we double our revenue?

Can we get two more sponsors to pay premiums? I mean, we always can search for more. You could be Google, Apple, or Costco and want to make more money. But in football, it's like, can the Chiefs do anymore? Three Super Bowls, five years, two wins. Whether you win 12 games or 14 games, if you win the Super Bowl, success. I've been saying it forever. The Eagles last year.

successful season. Think how they got there. They paid Carson Wentz a boatload of money. And within a couple years, they had pivoted. They drafted Jalen Rager over Justin Jefferson. A couple years later, they land A.J. Brown, trade Rager. None of it matters. None of it matters. Because they're winning. That's all that matters. Think how shitty Tampa was forever. They drafted James Winston number one overall. I always kind of rooted for James in, terms of the player from an entertainment standpoint. But that's a bad pick. He's a backup quarterback. But they landed Tom Brady. Then they won a Super Bowl. And then they hosted a playoff. Like it was successful. Did they think they were going to end up that way? Probably in 2018. Of course not.

But sometimes you do. The whole point of this whole thing is to win. There's a golf question. I think America's in trouble for the Ryder Cup. If you like golf, I think we're going to lose. question for the pod. Being that the 49ers are in win now mode, can you see a scenario where Purdy has a short lease if they start 2 and 4? Can you see Shanahan going to the bullpen and throwing darnled out curious on your thoughts?

1,000% like they believe in Purdy. They really think highly a Purdy. The team, right? One thing if you notice, and I think it feels like sometimes I'm shitting on Trey Lance. Like, this is a big boy business. He's paid a premium. We're talking about him as a player.

I just don't think he's any good. But one reason I feel pretty confident like being pretty negative about the player because I don't think anyone on the team think he's any good. And the 49ers are littered with core star, all pro pro bowl level guys. Not the fake Tyler Huntley pro bowls, but real pro bowlers.

None of them complained. None of them cared. Honestly, they all talk about Purdy. And they did last year with Jimmy Garapola. Last year when Lance got hurt, which no one was rooting for, and Jimmy came in, they threw him a fucking party on the field. You know why?

Because these guys are trying to win. And they didn't think Lance was that good. Right? So Purdy, I think has a, I think in 2022, I don't think Trey Lance would have made it like past September. I think they would have started really slow and they would have gone to the bullpen and Jimmy Garapola. We'll never know, but I feel pretty confident in that scenario.

If it had played out, they had started slow. And they definitely did. I mean, they lost the Bears week one. it would have been difficult for them. Kyle just would have gotten to Jimmy Garoppel. I think Purdy has a longer leash because he proved in playoff games, toughness with a,

I forget the injury, a rib or abductor or something. And on a short week in Seattle, Kyle talked about it on some podcasts this offseason. But Kyle likes Sam Darnold. In this notion of like, Sam Darnold sucks. Yeah, for the Jets,

Adam Gase, everyone does. And listen, he may turn out to not be good, but Kyle Shanahan, goes, if you give me a decent, decent quarterback with some ability, Donald is athletic and he has a big arm, I can turn you into something. Not a soul last year on, you know, heading into week one, thought anything a purdy. Now, he made the 49ers.

I'm not saying the 49ers didn't think highly of them. But no one around the league thought that he could become the 49er starting quarterback at a point in the season to rattle off wins. And he proved it, right? it's what makes the draft so fascinating. You never really know. Things change pretty quick. We'd love to hear some college football before the first week this week.

Power of Mannings. Arch is 17 years old, making $3 million to ride the pine. We will dive into college football a little later in this week. I have already kind of a big take that I think, I alluded to to it a little bit with USC, USC, I think I'll pick my final four. I think I got a little bit of a sleeper. Relative to sleepers, I mean, only, let's face it.

I would say 15 teams have a legit chance to make the playoffs. And after a couple weeks, it'll be clear probably. That number might be closer to 10. But I'm really, really excited for college football. So this, he basically sent me a visual of the top NIL valuations. I do think the hard part about this, it has Arch making 3 million, Caleb making 2 and a half, Bo Nix making 1-7, Travis Hunter and Drake May making 1-5, Dion's kid making 1-3, Marvin Harrison making over a million.

I don't always believe these numbers, right? And honestly, some of them might be higher and some of them might be lower. I just through doing this for a living, I know a lot of guys that I've talked about this before, They have these jobs called basically GMs for college football teams. Now, ultimately, the coach is in charge of player personnel, but they have GMs who set the board, who run the transfer portal, and who work hand at hand with the coach a lot like they do in the NFL. In bullshitting with them over the last 12 months, a lot of them say some of these NIL numbers are just so off base.

Like there is a small, small segment of guys, and these are obviously the names. but these numbers are not public. Right? Like, just pick a athlete, Steph Curry, Aaron Judge, Shoea O'Hawahony, Aaron Donald, you name it. We know exactly how much they're making on the field.

But once you get to know, like I get to know agents or marketing people, the numbers you hear off the field are always like, well, he got paid X for this campaign or in the neighborhood of. Like Aaron Rogers, how much does he make for State Farm?

A couple million, 10 million? Patrick Mahomes, Oakley. Like, you don't truly know. Obviously, the player does. But if you just listen, like, if you just talk to people about those numbers, they're always kind of fluid

and no one can ever get an exact number. And that's what I think NIL is a little bit. Is there are a lot of numbers that get floated around. The colleges want it out. The numbers are super high. But I don't always believe them. Right?

And I got no problem. with any of these guys making as much coin as they can. But I'd be very, very fascinated with some of these deals, you know, what's the kid going to do? It's one thing with Arch Manning or Caleb Williams. It's another thing like, you know, I committed to pay a guy on, let's just pick a team, Washington, a couple hundred grand. What if the company only pays them $78,000?

What's he going to do? Sue them? I think there are a lot of shady stories behind the scenes on how some of the shit's going down. because the team and the program is not the one cutting the checks. I've been listening since you, sorry, let me, I can't even speak. I've been listening since you were the only one with the stones to say Kaepernick was not any good. My question is, why does Sean Payton get a pass as such a great coach?

When his teams have lost multiple times to lower C.E. in the playoffs. Everyone's the village idiot, Mike McCarthy, everyone's village idiot Mike McCarthy, has more playoff wins than Sean the Great. Well, I think PR campaign is always a big deal, and Sean Payton is dramatically better with the football NFL national media

than Mike McCarthy, not arguable. Sean Payton literally just spent a year working in the media. He's clearly close friends with Colin, but well before that, the Saints were always notorious. Do you remember Ian Rappaport had to apologize one time for a report of something that he said based on, I think the Saints offensive coordinator? Like, they have a pretty open-door policy with the Saints for years with Sean Peyton and kind of that crew. Now, Mike, it's just not really Mike's thing.

He's just more tough guy, blue collar from Pittsburgh, right? He's not really on his knees making sure the media sing his praise. And any time in certain positions, I would say politicians, obviously coaches, even players nowadays that you don't work the quote unquote media game, you're just going to get negative pressed. Now, I'd argue who gives a shit? Honestly, who cares? Like you said, Mike's got more wins.

He also has a Super Bowl. Coach Aaron Rogers, like Green Bay Packers, Dallas Cowboys, does not have to mess with Russell Wilson, like, I think sometimes we overrate the conversation out there. One thing I've learned on a much, much lower level, but like watching Colin, like he doesn't care when people talk shit about him, when he has a bad take or miss speaks or what, because none of it matters. The only thing that matters is like, do you find him entertaining? His ratings keep going up. People keep listening, right? The only thing that matters is a football coach or a football, are you good? Like, even Trey Lance, I'd say, what I say about him or even what the 49ers,

say about it. Like, ultimately, it's not going to determine his success or failure. If he goes to the Cowboys, he works his way up the depth chart. Maybe there's an injury and then he has success. Who gives a shit? None of this actually impacts any of it. Right? And like, like I said, with Colin, people say mean shit to me all the time online. Why just delete Twitter from my phone? I don't scroll it every day. I don't, I just don't really like, because none of it matters. If I let it matter, then it will affect you. But like, who cares that people just think Sean Payton's better than Mike McCarthy. I know.

I probably would take Sean Payton over Mike McCarthy. Could be wrong. Might not be right. I don't know. It'll be interesting. I think both. Yeah. I mean, I guess it's a roundabout saying is a way of saying, who cares?

Doesn't matter. Found your pot off Collins feet a few months back and it's been my favorite since. As a lifelong Bills fan, my question. is how long can we accept the company line type answers when McDermott and Bean are asked about the very few but glaring holes in our roster. For instance, every Bill's fan knows our big weakness is cornerback to O line, but mainly the guard positions and middle linebacker. And reporters look for answers on these positions. We get the typical, we're still evaluating these positions. Player X has done a great job. B, B, B, B. My gripe is we have been a very very very. My gripe is we have been a

evaluating the same core group of guys at cornerback two for two or three years, O'Line for two or three years, with the exception of rookie Osiris Torrance, and for middle linebacker, everyone with a pulse knows that Tremont Edmonds leaving left a gaping hole in the heart of our defense. I guess my real question is, how long do you need to evaluate a group until it's clear you don't have the players you need for that group? The window is slim, and we are acting like it's impossible to find other players that fit better. Podgo bills.

I'm going to defend them off the bat without knowing all the details. Like, you watch their press conferences on a daily basis. I do not. You have, I can't break down the Bill's guard position, right? And I'll always defend a team on this one. Most teams, good teams, have one good corner. This notion that is normal to have two really good corners is you'd be an outlier in the league.

So if you have one really good corner and you just wrote. other guys like, welcome to the NFL. You usually don't get Richard Sherman and Dorel Revis. You don't get two guys that every team would want. That's not the way it works. It's a very, very hard position to find. Now, the guard position, I'd argue, like after a couple years, it's like a running back, easy to replace.

Just go sign some guys off practice squad. Draft guys in the late rounds, develop them. That should be a really easy player to replace. Linebacker can be a little difficult, right? You let a guy walk in free agency because he got a lot of money. It's impossible to fill every hole. And you guys are paying a lot of money to a couple players. You are limited in what you can do, right?

You're drafting in the mid-20s in every round. You're not getting the pick of the litter of talent in the draft. And with free agency, you just don't have, you know, the amount of money that some of these shittier teams are going to have because you got an expensive quarterback. You got an expensive wide receiver. don't you pay your left tackle. You paid Vaughn Miller a lot of money. You just, you don't get to have the perfect team. Right now, part of this is, and this goes to me on Bean and then McDermott and the staff to develop.

It's like you got to develop some young, no-name guys. What happened last year when we looked up in the playoffs and the Super Bowl with the Chiefs? They were playing all these rookies and several late rounders in the secondary. So they drafted McDuffie really high, but then I look up and they got multiple guys that were, I think, fifth and seventh rounders playing at corner. And I think like a hybrid nickel safety position. So, like, yeah, it's on the coaching staff to develop and being to give them players that are develop that you can develop. I was going to say developable. That's not a word.

but a developmental program. And when you pay guys lots of money, which the bills like the chiefs do, the Bengals are going to, you have to hit on mid-round picks. That's the only way. It's the only way you can function. If you do not, you got no chance.

But it's very unlikely to have multiple sweet corners. I will say that. Guard position, you got a gripe. You should be able to find guards. guess you said right guard and right tackle tackle too like it it is difficult tackles a hard position to find right because you're not look at this year you drafted i don't know if there was really a tackle available there in the mid 20s but they're going to need can cane to be a star they just are like a high end tied in and if that's the case then

you kind of get around it non football question i was wondering what song that comes on after a break There's like a three second song and I really enjoy it. This is, this is Jeff using his daughter's Instagram. Honestly, I don't know. I'd have to text my audio producer, Michael Hulse, and find out. I, uh, no clue, to be honest with you. Glad you like it.

Love the podcast. Big Broncos fan. Very worried about Russ, even with him having Sean Payton. Well, as the previous DMer said that you, wish you had Mike McCarthy over Sean Payton. If Russ doesn't pan out this season, do you see the Broncos doing something to move up in the draft for a quarterback? I think it's very, very difficult the Russ situation because of the contract.

He makes so much money. And the contract is just starting to kick in. So, and would you want him around? Like these first couple years, it's really big. But honestly, you're kind of stuck with him in 2024, too. Now, if this year is a disaster like last year and it clearly doesn't work, what do they do? Because his dead cap is $85 million. So you're not going to cut him.

But if it doesn't go well, do you want him around a young quarterback? I think that's one of the most fascinating parts of this 2020 season is how this plays out. Because in the in the, I think it was two series, but definitely the first series he played against the 49ers in the preseason game. He ran one time. He was like, oh, he looks, he's clearly smaller, right?

I think Peter King wrote he's 212 this year. He was 2.25 last year. He's clearly been humbled, just by the situation last year, losing his office. All the weird stories coming out. I mean, Shannon Sharp, I remember last year was talking a bunch of shit

and rightfully so. And just the worst season of his career, right? And to me, it's not just people have down seasons. If you have a down season, after you are traded to a team, after you've essentially said your old team was a bunch of idiots, they used you wrong, then that team that trades for you, that only gives several first round picks and players, then pays you a ton of money, $160 million guaranteed.

He got $125 million when he signed. His average salary is $48 million. His signing bonus was $50 million. I'm no Howie Roseman capologist, but I'm pretty sure a signing bonus, the day you sign it, within 14 days of that, he got a direct deposit of 50 million. Now, it might be less than that with taxes and stuff, but he's not like a 1099 guy. So he got a direct deposit of probably $30 million. That's net. He does no taxes on that.

So yeah, a lot of pressure on the dude this year, man. A lot of pressure. Rightfully so. He's been one of the biggest talking points. in the NFL for years. His relationship with Pete and Seattle, like Russell was carrying them. And he did,

but maybe it wasn't like we perceived the entire time. And one thing's clear. There was a diva element to this guy. I think a lot of times when you get these overly religious players, and it happens a lot with quarterbacks, you just go, oh, this guy can't be selfish. This guy can't be a diva.

It's like, oh, no, he is. I think he's a pretty big one. It doesn't mean some guys don't like him. It doesn't mean he can't relate to some people. But it felt like there was a little disconnect. And it's not, you know, there was a guy's guy element of a lot of quarterbacks, right? I think I'm pretty sure Drew Brees is pretty religious, seems pretty relatable.

There was just some gap between Russell and reality. and I think it really came to fruition. What a win for Pete. What an awesome situation for Pete. What a ultimate muscle flex of like, I'm not a fucking idiot, you guys. I know what I'm doing. I've been coaching for four and a half decades, guys. I've seen it all.

I won national championships. I won a Super Bowl and I got back to another. I know what I'm doing leading the troops here. So when I told you that Russell deserved some blame Now he would never publicly say that But it was clear

It was kind of coming out Right through reporters Everyone's like oh Pete sucks And I'm guilty of this too I was like fire him all He was right man We all Anyone that took Russell's side

Has a lot of egg on our face Massive win for Pete Massive win for Seattle And they're just really good Seattle might win 10 11 games this year big Notre Dame fan and

I like the interview was damn good with Jalen. Hats off to both of you. Great questions and Jalen is a solid stand-up guy. Totally agree. Question is with the Raiders. Now looking like Jimmy is healthy at the moment and Jacob's signing.

How do you see them doing if that plays out? Obviously any team lose their number one quarterback it usually derails the season. I feel a little bit better about the Raiders quarterback situation because of this rookie. And we just saw it last year with Brock Purdy. And we've seen it before with guys like

Dak Prescott. It's pretty clear like this guy is a solid player. He's going to play in the league for a long time. Now, is he some lock starter for the rest of his career? I'm not saying that. But I hated the Raiders quarterback situation when it's just like, well, Jimmy's going to get hurt. And then you're going to go to Brian Hoyer. That will not work. Brian Horier is not going to be their backup. Aiden O'Connell will. and with Jacobs, with Devante Adams, you would think

at coming off a really bad season, Hunter Renfro, who was really good with Derek Carr and John Grude. Hunter Renfro can play. I remember I had a buddy on the staff a couple years ago. I'm like, how's this little guy so good? Like, you really underestimate how quick the guy's feet is and how great his balance is just work in the middle. And I remember a couple years ago, everyone made fun of them,

but like Derwin James was asked, get asked like his top wide receivers and he listed Renfro. Well, shouldn't he know? Pretty sure Durwin James comes down to cover some dudes in the slot. Renfro can play. Now, to me, it's about the Raiders, and I've been up close and personal with them for a decade now. Most of my life,

I didn't really pay that much attention beside the Gruden years. Their defense has been hideous, has been honestly an embarrassment. Even the year Khalil Mack won the defensive player of the year, the rest of their defense was not very good. He was awesome. He was incredible. But their defensive unit was below average.

Average at best. So if their defense can just be serviceable and their offense improves from last year, which is hard to be much worse given how terrible Derek and Josh meshed, could they compete to be nine wins? I think that's somewhat realistic.

To me, defense, the offensive line, their left tackle's good, but division's hard. Division's difficult. As a Detroit Lions fan, I just finished watching three preseason games without the majority of our starters seeing any action. Campbell's justification is that for the first two preseason games, they held a pair of joint practices with the opponent in the lead up to the contest. Obviously, there's a ton of hype surrounding the Lions, and I've never been more excited. heading into a season. However, I'm nervous at the first time our ones take the field in a live environment

is going to be an arrowhead staring down the defending champions on opening night. Very tall order. Do you think it's a mistake for teams to go this route when preparing for the regular season? I thought Mike Tomlin the other day summed it up perfectly. It's impossible to get into a boxing ring without sparring. before. I'm not a big MMA guy, but these guys clearly trained to build up the

calluses on their body before they fight on the Saturday night, right? And you would say the best coach in the NFL currently, Andy Reed, plays his starters and has his entire career. I think Kyle Shanahan has gotten away from that,

and then he saw Tomlin doing it and them looking good started playing his starters the last two preseason games. Because he went, can't play these guys if our starters don't get some sweat in some live game action and they had joint practices as well. So I'm a proponent of playing your guys if you feel like, I don't know, I guess I'm talking about both sides of my mouth because I've said before that I get nervous with injuries. I am inclined to like freak out about injuries. I hated that feeling standing on

the sideline. But I can't dispute the best coaches in the league are all playing their players. Now, Dan Campbell, ironically, is like an old school Bill Parcell's guy, topped by Sean Payton, who also plays his starters. I don't know. I mean, there's a large gap. I mean, talking to August 28th. So you're 10 plus days away as I'm recording this away from opening night. I don't know. I let me, I guess I need to roll that back. I don't know if there's a right or wrong way to do it. I do know this. If you do play your starters and they look good and you don't have an injury, you feel pretty good about it. You feel really good about it.

But I do agree with him the joint practices. They're, that's a big deal. Like, that's, that's pretty important. So I would say, just be excited. I don't think if you underwhelm on Thursday night is because of the preseason. That that would be my take. Can you explain, uh, listening to Chris Vernon on the mismatch, talking about the Harden-Mory situation, and I think he captures the JT. Erse thing as well. They don't want to pay

these guys like superstars, yet they want a superstar return in a hypothetical trade. No matter how you feel about the running backs as a whole, can you explain why this is okay and how running backs are just whining and complaining? Well, do they think they have a superstar? I mean, last year, he was injured and not good. To be a superstar player, you have to do it over and over and over again. I would be on Jonathan Taylor's side if Jonathan Taylor had had three straight years of kicking ass and taking names. But he didn't. He just had a season where he had played 11 games and looked much more pedestrian than he did his first two seasons. Now you could say that's just injury. Well, is he injured now? That's my question with Jonathan

Taylor. Is he currently injured or is he healthy? Because I don't quite understand what's going on. Like, could he play a game in two weeks? If I trade for him, is he ready? Is he just doing a hold in so he doesn't get fined? Is his ankle good? Would he pass a physical? Like, these are legitimate questions. Josh Jacobs and Sequin Barclay,

if I was their teams, I would want to go year by year. I don't blame the teams. And if I was the player, I would want several years. But I also think that if both guys dominate again this year, their franchise tag goes up next year to like $14, $14.5 million. And they, even if they got to plan a second year franchise tag, that's back to back years of making $26, $27 million. That's real money.

That's essentially what they would have got paid if they had signed the deal. Right? They didn't have contract offers at $40 million. So if they play this year and have a good season, they will get franchise tagged again or extended because a lot of teams, once you get to a certain number with a franchise tag at certain positions, you feel uncomfortable. Do I think the Colts view Jonathan Taylor currently as a star? They did a couple years ago, but information changes.

Players are like their stock internally and externally around the league is fluid. Trust me, I scouted like every year you regrade the player. Obviously, sweet players tend to be good all the time. Like, Micah Parsons is probably going to be awesome again. Miles Garrett, Nick Bosa, Trent Williams, but the majority of the league kind of Evan Flo. So one year, Jonathan Taylor's viewed as a top two or three running back in the league. Next year he gets injured, other guys shine and things change.

So it's like, does he bounce back? I don't know. But I would have a hard time paying him like a superstar based on two years. That's just me, especially when I think I can replace it. Now, it could be wrong. Time will tell. Let's call that a show. Appreciate my guy, Mike on the audio,

James and Christian on the video. We've got a team of people here at the volume. This is not a one-man band by any means. And, yeah, hopefully everyone had a good week, and the game plan is going to keep just pumping out podcasts as information flows. We've got a lot going on in the football world. And as news breaks and things happen,

I got you covered. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement 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. 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 IHart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is an IHart podcast. Guaranteed human.