The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Gruden Exposed; Dak's Ceiling; Brady's Discounts; Middle Class FA Squeeze; Mailbag

Episode Date: March 12, 2021

In this episode, John explains why it's clear Jon Gruden has no idea how to build a team, what Dak Prescott's new contract limits the Cowboys chances to win a Super Bowl, why Tom Brady continues to make it easier for his teams to win by taking a discount, why the middle class free agents are going to get hit the hardest during this offseason, and answers listener questions in the Middlekauff Mailbag. Follow John on Twitter and SUBSCRIBE now to get all the latest content!! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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because that's what we do here on the three and out podcast. A lot going on today, and as I, I just got to hammer this home. If you listen on Collins feed, you like the podcast, subscribe to the three and out podcast. It's a separate feed, same show. Subscribe to the three and out podcast with me, John Middlough, and you'll hear all the good takes I have. Have some thoughts on John Gruden, Dak Prescott. I've had to really let Dak Prescott marinate. Because when I gave my take on Dak Prescott for Tuesday's show, it really happened while I was

recording and I've just let it marinate for a while some thoughts on free agency and the draft was in the car the other day and flipping channels and I listened to a lot of Tom Brady's interview with Howard Stern from last year and it just got my mind kind of thinking so I want to dive into that and then of course the Middlekoff mailbag at John Middilcoff is my Instagram handle slide up in those DMs and then we answer them here on the show. Middlecoff mailbag. Really easy to do so subscribe to the podcast and slide up in my DMs if you got a football question. Obviously with free agency right around the corner,

we got a lot going on. The draft's not that far away. Good time of year, right? Love the season, love the games, but second best part is March and April because free agency in the draft. I wanted to start, though, with John Gruden, and I was thinking a lot about this,

about perception, and having someone who's been, you know, on the team side, and then on this quote-unquote media side, I can see how fake and just wrong a lot of stories often are. But from a fan's perspective, which I always say I'm much closer to that now than I am anyone working in the league, it impacts me. I'm just as guilty when I see a story online, on social media. You naturally kind of believe it or gravitate to it. It happens if you watch that royal interview, which I watch the whole thing, I'm guilty, even though many people,

parts. I'm like, this is so stupid. Why am I doing it? Though it was pretty captivating. It's like, if you just watch it, you're going to believe everything Megan, Markle, and Harry said. But why would I believe them? I don't know them. Why wouldn't I believe the queen or Prince Charles or Prince William? But you're naturally going to take sides. I was thinking about this, the perception of politicians. I would imagine the majority of people listening, probably 99.9%. Have never met any senators have never met any, you know, vice presidents or presidents, right? And that includes me. I haven't met any of these people. Yet if I give you a name, Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, AOC, Gavin Newsom, we all are going to have a reaction, right?

We're all, if we just sat down and had beers, regardless of what we think politically, if we just went through the names, we'd all have a strong opinion on all these people. We'd all have a strong take. Yet none of us have met any of these people or spent any time around them. It just showed the power of perception in politics is no joke. It's no different in pro sports, right? The perception of John Gruden, I remember thinking it. Because you know why? No one fucking remembers what he did with the Raiders.

I'm not saying we don't remember that he had success with the Raiders, but we don't actually remember. We don't remember 2002 or 3 when he won the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay. Buccaneers. I mean, we remember it, but unless you're like a diehard Bucks fan, you don't remember any of the moments, besides the Super Bowl when they killed the Raiders. You don't really even remember that after the Super Bowl, it became a disaster. He started losing a lot. He did not win. You know why? Because when he took his hiatus and he worked for ESPN on Monday night football, we all just like, God, this guy is likable. This guy's awesome. Quarterback camp. Yeah,

this guy's football guy. This guy's big time coach. even though the evidence in the 2000s, you know, 04 to 08 up until he was fired, was ugly. I have met players, you know, through just, I think it'll actually like radio stuff, guys that played for him in Tampa that did not have good things to say about him.

They despised it. And, but everyone forgets about it. And then once he's working at ESPN, it's like, you know, it's like this guy, USC, Texas, the Colts, the Giants, the Jets, the Cowboys. everyone wanted him and he wouldn't come back. Hell, I bought it into the hype. I'm like, this guy, this guy, do you know who I thought he was?

I remember, never forget when he first got hired with the Raiders, I'm like, this guy is like Bill Parcells, but on offense, right? I heard Scott Pioly was on Collins show, the Colin Coward podcast. It had a great story about Parcells, about how he wanted to get involved with the draft. That's when he was a pro scout and Parcells ripped his ass and, like, screamed at him. Like, you don't even know all the players in the league. And it was just, I was like, that's charge. Gruden, but on offense.

And that's not John Gruden. Like, Bill Parcells knew what he was doing. Like, the evidence might be in. John Gruden might not be very good. Like, he clearly has no idea how to build a team. Because three years into the Raiders, it's a disaster. Yet when he got $100 million, it was crazy that he got $100 million, but it was like people had been offering him huge cash for a long period of time.

And in fairness to Bob Lamont his agent, which represents all the rich guys in the league, who was great at his job he was like well ESPN is paying me $10 million. I heard his Corona deal that now Tony Romo did was very very lucrative so they go listen

my guy's making 12, 15 million now and he ain't working seven days a week so you want to get a mark this is what it's going to cost and that's what it cost but then he gets to the league his basically his first free agent class after they had traded

Khalil Mack was and he went on record and said this if it wasn't for trading Khalil Mack, we would not have had the money to sign Antonio Brown, Terrell Williams, Lamarcus Joyner, and Trent Brown. Now, including Khalil Mack, as we sit here going into his fourth season,

none of those guys are on the team. Because being a head coach is more than just calling plays, which Sean Gruden has proven, he's not terrible at. Though I think he's not great at, like I don't think he's like Sean Peyton and Andy Reid. I watch Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVey

I think both those guys are better But I'd say John Gruden You know It's a top half offensive coordinator in the league But he's not like You know The Lincoln Riley of college football I don't watch go

This guy's reinventing the wheel here The problem is And I see this a lot too In the NFL Like John Snyder is known as the GM And when they miss on a player In the draft And definitely free agency they go

Oh John Snyder He you know He fucked up that signing. Are we sure he did? Because last time I checked, Pete Carroll's in charge of the whole building. I saw someone tweet this week like, look at all Mike Mayock's mistakes in free agency in the draft. Yeah, you know, I don't know if that's the way it works. I actually think we should differentiate the GMs that actually are able to draft and pick the players in free agency and the guys that work for their head coach. Like John Lynch. I like John Lynch. Smart, high-level guy.

Kyle Shanahan is the boss. there is not a decision made within the 49ers that Kyle Shanahan either gives a thumbs up or a thumbs down and if he gives a thumbs down they ain't picking the player well here's what I know for a fact John Gruden's in complete control and right now you would base it on the evidence though he doesn't really know what he's doing again okay solid above average offensive coach when it comes to defense knows nothing clearly

they had the worst defense in the league when it comes to talent acquisition he's all over the board he's not any good and I told calling this when we were talking a couple weeks ago. The underrated part about his Raiders tenure for four years, Al Davis hadn't like kind of started losing it yet. He was still really good at his job. He was the general manager. In Tampa and now with the Raiders, even though he quote unquote has the GM,

he doesn't because he's ultimately the GM. And he's not any good. But it shows you like if you can create perception, if you can create outside buzz, most of us, this is where, listen, I think the media in 2021 is, it's just so segmented. Like there's not one guy that speaks for anything, probably in any, you know, whether it's politics, whether it's sports, whether it's whatever. But they still do have power because most people, if you just work a normal job,

you work in insurance, you work at a deli, you know, you own a car shop place or a car manufacturing, I don't even, car manufacturing, you own, you know, a couple jiffy, lubes, you do something, you're not living and dying every day with the NFL or politics. So you come home, you turn on the news or you turn on SportsCenter, whatever they're pushing out, you might just naturally believe. And then like I said, Percept, think how often in like business you're going to try to do a deal with the guy and they're like, hey, listen, if you've got to sit down with this guy, you better be careful.

He's a big a hole, man. You got to be careful. And then you end up getting that meeting with them or maybe you end up playing golf with them or something. You're like, God, this guy's nicest guy I've ever met. but the perception or the buzz around someone is the complete opposite. And until you actually have interaction with them, and in football, like, once you get out of football,

your star can grow. And I don't think we'll ever see a star grow bigger than Gruden's did when he left the league. And I thought Colin was crazy when he's like, you know, no one leaves a league for this long in a profession, this competitive, right? And it'd be like leaving Wall Street for a decade and then just coming back and thinking you're going to hit the ground running.

That's not the case. If you're not living and dying in that business every day and you take a year off, you take a step back, let alone if you take almost a decade. And then when you really look back, you go, was this guy a little overrated? Because clearly when he finally got the power in Tampa, it did not work out at all.

And when you look at a lot of the good organizations, there is a give and take with their head coach and their GM. Because if there's not, like, even Belichick, If Belichick actually had a guy that he could rely on and let him pick draft picks, he'd probably be a better drafter. But instead, I don't blame him because he's so successful, he's won so many championships for him thinking he can do everything. But it doesn't always work.

It's why they miss on draft picks all the time. Right? Like, I'll give you an example, Tampa Bay. It's pretty clear that, and I give Bruce Ariens credit on this one when he was in Arizona with Steve Kime, and now that he's with Jason Light and Tampa. Bruce Ariens, I don't feel like kicks in the door, walks in and acts like,

For a guy that's cocky and arrogant about his football coaching ability, does not act like he's the grand poo ball when it comes to picking players. He lets Jason Light draft him, and what do they do? They nail a bunch of picks. Back in the day when he got to Arizona, he let Steve Kine pick the players. I remember watching the Amazon did a show, and they drafted David Johnson, who was really good for them. Obviously, he's not good anymore, but I remember Steve Kime picking the player,

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Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the ad council. I've been thinking a lot about Dak Prescott and the coat that he wore to his press conference looked fantastic. And if you just, I'm sure, listened to my take on Dak Prescott on Tuesday, you would think, I don't like Dak Prescott. Definitely don't like him for $40 million, which is the case. I don't like him for $40 million. And I think the one thing shitty about this job is that a lot of times you have to take a stance that can be like anti a human that's accomplishing a lot, right? This guy's not good enough. This guy is overpaid.

And it's just part of the deal in what I do. But I don't, the way I look at life, I get, I celebrate other people's success. I want every single person in any industry, if they're doing it the right way, not screwing over people. to do well. I am pro-owners. I love ownership. Whether you own a little business, whether you own an NFL team,

whether you buy your first house. Like, ownership's a big deal. This is America. No different Dak Prescott. Went from making nothing to now worth $100 and whatever million. That's awesome. And it sucks the part of the way in football.

I say it all the time, like the people that say, Middle Cuff, or just anyone. Why are you counting his money? Because when you talk about a salary cap sport if we don't factor in the contracts you can't be at the big kids table so like listen dac getting paid 180 million dollars one dollar doesn't change my life at all and i'm obviously not a cowboy fan i really don't give a shit and i i don't love the contracts but when you say it you're like

i'm kind of bringing this guy down sometimes i think that in the back of my head because i have no problem ripping a guy that, especially a player that's like a low-level guy or when I hear things about being a bad character or whatever, DAC is the complete opposite. And I was going for a run the other day and I was listening to John Kitten on Rassillo's podcast. Kitten had coached him. And listen, the one thing you know about Dak is, and this is a big deal. Drew Brees has talked about this. Success in the NFL for guys that don't have elite physical tools is way more mental than it is

physical. And Dak, from a character standpoint, from a work ethic standpoint, from a team teammate standpoint, is 10 out of 10 in all those. And that matters at quarterback. It doesn't matter at right guard. It doesn't matter at all at defensive tackle. No one cares at wide receiver. None of it matters. But my quarterback cannot be a low-level guy. And if he is, I'm going to be in trouble. Now, Dak Prescott physically is not Patrick Mahom. He ain't Josh Allen. You know, he's a mobile quarterback, but he ain't Lamar. Like, I don't envision this guy winning MVP's.

But I do think when you do comparisons like Drew Breeze, Drew Breeze was so elite off the field and so elite in terms of work ethic and drive. I mean, clearly, Brady has it too, but Brady's more talented than these guys. But you know what I'm saying? And that matters. So if you're going to overpay a guy, you want to overpay a guy, especially a quarterback, with those attributes. my issue ultimately is

when you start paying a guy $40 million and the salary cap's $180, $190. The salary cap next year ain't just going back to like $2.30. That's not the case. So, Dak Prescott, his ability is his ability. And his ability is good. Like, he's a good player. But when I can't have a loaded squad,

which he definitely had his first couple years because he was making no money. And even then, like Zeeke wasn't making that much money because he's on his rookie guy. contract and they had a lot of success, that will no longer ever be the case. And a huge element, I think, to like Drew Breeze's success, for example, who always made a lot of money, but physically never had it. Like Dak, like, Dak has better physical tools than Drew Breeze, but you know what I'm saying. Made up for it a lot with work ethic,

intelligence, understanding the game plan inciting out, being able to pick teams apart, like if Dak can never get to that level. But he had Sean Payton, who was easily one of the best coaches in the league. And I know a lot of people go, Sean Payton's overrated. My friends that are assistant coaches in the NFL think Sean Payton is elite. So I'm just going to lean with their opinion. Listen, I'm kind of indifferent. I think he's damn good. But my point is, he had an elite head coach all those years. Beck Prescott's gone from Jason Garrett to now Mike McCarthy. So his coaches aren't that good. And listen, at the end of the day, Jerry Jones and the Cowboys printed cash the last 25 years and they never won a damn thing. They haven't been to the NFC.

championship game since the Troy Aikman Big Three era. So clearly the money, the actual money to DAC is irrelevant, right, in terms of Jerry's pocket and the franchise. They have an unlimited amount. Jerry Jones is paying him $75 million this year. Jerry Jones probably has that in like a 17th savings account. It's irrelevant. But it's not irrelevant in the way you build your team.

And I think we saw, and someone DM me this, they're like, you know, you use Wentz and Gough like I would take DAC from a pure off-the-field character, all that stuff over either one of those guys. I agree. I'm not disputing that. And I would take DAC right now over Goff and Wentz. I'm with you there. But I think both those guys are dramatically overpaid.

And when you're paying, now Carson Wentz makes $30 million. To me, there's a big difference between $30 and $40. $10 million could be a starting guard and a linebacker. It's just much harder to build your team. Here's the other factor. 17 games. So the war of attrition is even bigger.

And when you're paying a guy who is not an elite player, like what is ultimately DAC's ceiling, right? And there's nothing wrong with this, being the seventh best quarterback in the league. It's an incredible accomplishment. Incredible. But when you get that seventh guy in the league the number one money,

and when you factor in for this time because of corona, the salary cap came down, it is harder to build a Super Bowl team. Now, Jerry hasn't won a Super Bowl, even sniffed a Super Bowl in two and a half decades. Maybe he ultimately doesn't care. I'm just talking about it from winning a Super Bowl. From building a team around a high-level guy, I do understand it.

I get it. I like Dak, and you watch the press conference, he's my type guy. He's the type guy I root for. Hell, Lamar Jackson, whose game I despise coming out of college, what, three years in, I'm a big fan. Nobody cares, work harder. I love every time he screws up, he's more mature than 90% of. of the quarterbacks in the league right now.

You know, like his rookie year, just the way he operated and acted. I have nothing but respect from everything that I hear about Lamar Jackson. I've actually come around on him a little. I'm like, you know what? I don't know if I can win a Super Bowl with this guy. Actually, I kind of know I can't. But if the Ravens give him a max contract, again, $40 million, a little rich, but I get extending him.

I do. High-level guy, you're winning with him. Same type deal with Dak. Now, ultimately, I think Dak, it'd be easier if your team was really good. If Dak and Lamar were on the same team, all things being equal, I think you can be better with Dak. Because I think ultimately Dak throwing the football translates more to a playoff game than Lamar running around.

Because we know Lamar doesn't. And this is what makes paying these quarterbacks, these astronomical salaries, it gets really complicated. Because really there's only two or three guys worth it, right? For example, let's use the NBA. Dame Lillard, Max player. Max player, and he's the best player, on his own team.

And they are really competitive. They make the playoffs all the time. He's been paid hundreds of millions of dollars. They are never, ever going to win an NBA finals in Portland. But Portland's in the playoffs every year. They're making a lot of money. He's a marketable star. So from a business standpoint, it pencils.

Like, from a business standpoint with Dak, because here's what Jerry realized. Winning and losing doesn't change how much money the Cowboys make. They're making huge money regardless. They don't need to win the Super Bowl to make the cash. Dak Prescott, his contract, does not change the franchise at all. But does it limit their ability to ultimately win a Super Bowl? And that's the angle I'm coming from.

Because I just, like, I felt in a weird way, especially after watching this press conference, I don't want to be an anti-Dak guy. I just think he's overpaid. But I would like him on my team. If at $26 million, love them. Love them. At $30 million, I could probably deal with it.

I just think it's just, I just think it's too much. I had to drive to Palo Alto where Stanford is the other day to pick something up. It's about 45 minutes, so, you know, with traffic a little bit, it was probably, I was in the car for like an hour and 50 minutes combined, down there, back. And, you know, flipping around the channels. and after I pick what I needed to pick up and I'm driving back and I got like 50 minute drive flipping channels and I go to Howard Stern

and I see it's Tom Brady and it's replaying the interview that he did with Tom Brady last year and I listened to it and it was just, I mean Tom's such a really high-level guy it was a really good interview nothing too earth-shattering but it was just talking about him being a teammate

the way he approaches things and obviously we're never going to see a Tom Brady again like I don't envision any quarterback ever winning seven Super Bowls. I mean, I don't think anyone would probably win four, right? Mahomes, if he peaks, probably ends up winning three. If I tell you, him and Andy win three, that's a lot. I mean, that would be an incredible accomplishment.

That'd be minimum they get to four and he wins three out of four, which would be awesome, which would put him in rare, you know, a rare category. But one thing is like, one stupid part, this thing this week was like, when NFL reporters would announce so-and-so has not been franchise-tagged. Be like, yeah, no shit. Chris Carson has not been franchise tagged. Like, yeah, guys, we know.

I could have told you that two years ago. Carl Lawson with the Bengals has not been franchise tagged. Yeah, guys, I mean, you follow the league? We understand that. Shaquille Griffin was Seattle. Yeah, they were never going to franchise. You only franchise elite players. If he's not an elite player, it's a waste of money.

but the Packers didn't franchise Aaron Jones. The greatest thing that Brady ever did besides being a dominant football player, he never takes max value on his contract. Now, I don't blame anyone like Dak Prescott, Carson Wentz, or Deshawn Watts, or any of these guys, for taking the max money. It's not their problem

that the salary cap, limits, and whatever. That's not their issue. You take as much money as you can get. But if your team's not any good and you're making $40 million, you don't get to complain that your team's not any good. You actively signed a contract that you knew would limit your team's ability

to sign players. It's just a reality. And at quarterback, and Brady mentioned this, I am dependent on everyone else. Brady had a great point. He's like, the crazy thing about football, he's like, me, Tom Brady, at the time he was a six-time Super Bowl champ,

he's now seven-time Super Bowl champ. He's like, I couldn't start at another position for a high school team. He's like, I couldn't play offensive line. I couldn't play wide receiver. He's like, I can't catch, I can't tackle. I couldn't play, I couldn't start for a high school team at any other position. I was thinking, I was like, you know, probably a really crappy high school team, but a good high school, he's right.

He could not. He's not fast. He couldn't tackle. He probably can't catch. He can only do one thing, play quarterback. And he's like, I am very dependent. Like, part of what makes me put a lot of effort into being a good teammate is I'm so dependent on everybody. I'm dependent on my defense. I'm defending on the guys catching the ball. I'm

dependent on guys blocking for me. I'm dependent on running backs, either blocking or running the ball for me. It's a group effort. I need every single one of these guys because I can't do anything they do. And when you take Max money, you do limit your ability to sign other guys. Now, Tom Brady right now is making $25 million. $25 million. He easily should, based on his value, should be a $45 million. He should be the highest paid quarterback or equal with Mahomes right now. If he had wanted $45 million this upcoming season,

Tampa would not have a choice that would have to give him $45 million. But his ability to take $25 million, and he's ultimately going to extend and probably take a discount, allows the bucks to do what? And allowed the Patriots do what? Stack their team.

And what does he do? Well, he wins. And no one ever complains. Like, well, Tom, you know, you can't sign all. No, his teams are always great. He got it. And he is going to be valuable, and he's going to be known as the greatest winner, or one of them, in the history of team sports.

And I'd say just the history of America. When you just think winners, Tom Brady's going to be at the top of the list. In any walk of life, the business community, the sports community, any community. And listen, he actively figured something out early on that my value as a winner, as a Super Bowl champ, and my team's always being good. helps me make money off the field. And as I think Colin said it a couple weeks ago, that DAC had already made $50 million off the field. If you were to say to the Cowboys quarterback,

he could have made huge money. Aaron Rogers, think how much money Aaron Rogers has made off the field. Well, a big issue this week is the Packers didn't franchise Aaron Jones. Now, in theory, Aaron Jones is a franchiseable player. He's a pro-bowl level running back. Fantastic. I'm a big Aaron Jones fan.

but they can't franchise Aaron Jones they can't extend Aaron Jones it makes no sense they don't have the money part of it is their quarterback makes a ton like that's just part of the reality and in fairness to Gutikins and the Packers is last year they drafted A.J. Dillon

and he's going to fill in the role at a much cheaper cost right? They had Aaron Jones who was cheap because he was on his rookie contract he was a late round pick now they got A.J. Dillon who's you know second round pick he'll just fill in.

Now, is he going to be as good? Who knows? Time will tell. But that's the way they have to do business. Why? Because they don't have that much wiggle room. Aaron Rogers has made an astronomical amount of money as the Packers quarterback. And I'm not poo-pooing or telling him he should have taken less.

But there are always question marks. The Packers could have done more. The Packers could have done more. They're paying a guy max contract for a decade. That's a fact. And that does limit your ability. If he had taken a little less like Tom, maybe he's got a couple of Super Bowls. Maybe he's got three.

He's been arguably the best player in the league, give or take, for a decade. Him, Tom, and Peyton. Payton was the same thing. Always took Max money. What were some issues with the Colts? Well, they always, you know, lack some depth. Of course they do. We don't really ever say about Tom's team.

You know, they ever lack some depth. And to me, not all decisions. Hell, I make decisions, and I'm not a millionaire that don't always revolve around money. I can't imagine if I was worth $100 million, it actually gives you more leverage and not every decision is based on money. And Brady's been lucky. He had Belichick and now he has a good front office and coach that he believes in that he trusts. Clearly that's not the relationship with every quarterback and coach.

But I think when you can look at it big picture, and it's hard. Because you know the number one person who's not going to want to look at a big picture, even if the player will be the agent. Because you know what the agent always wants? More higher contract. Why? That's how they get paid. Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged.

It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. American Soccer is about to explode. The World Cup is coming. Ramos sending on to Ernie Stewart the chip. I'm Tad Ramos. I'm Tom Bo. On our podcast, Inside American Soccer, you'll get the real storylines. I'm not worried about Policic.

I'm not worried about Balligan. I'm not worried about McKinney. My only concern is what happens in the back. The biggest decisions. If you're going to look at stats and numbers, he has no shot at making this World Cup team. And the truth about the U.S. national team. It wouldn't be a huge surprise if our team ends up in the quarterfinals or

potentially a great run into the semifinals. The World Cup is almost here. Experience it all with us. Listen, inside American soccer with Tom Bogart and Tabramos on the IHeart Radio app, Apple podcast, wherever you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Deanna Maria Riva, actress, mother, lover, and a Gen X woman walking through life one hot flash and hormonal crying jag at a time. You ladies know what I mean. I'll bet you a paramed apostle chin here you do. So let's see. talk about it. Join me on my new podcast. How Hard Can It Be with the Adamani Arriva, where I call on my Gen X squads from Ohio to Hollywood as we navigate Midlife's most fantastic BS. All of a sudden, I'd had hanginess happening on my own. I was like, what the hell is that?

I was married when I had her, so I didn't even consider how empty that nest was going to be. Mood swings, night sweats, fupas, sex drive. Wait, what sex? Dating at 45. How high can it be getting naked? it at 50 with the new guy. That one's kind of hard. Well, that's lighting. They say we can't polish a turd, but we're sure going to try. So let's get blunt with laughs, tears or tears of laughter, and dive into it, unfiltered and unbothered and ask, how hard can it be? I cannot believe I'm about to say this out loud in public. Listen to How Hard Can It Be with Deanna Maria Riva as part of my Cultura podcast network available on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and IHeart

Podcast presents soccer moms. So I'm Leanne. This is my best friend Janet. Hey. And we have been joined at the hips since high school. Absolutely. Now a redacted amount of years later. We're still joined at the hip.

Just a little bit bigger hips. Wider. This is a podcast. We're recording it as we tailgate our youth soccer games in the back of my Honda Odyssey. With all the snacks and drink. Sidebar. Why did you get hard seltzer instead of beer? Well, then you got it.

Do you want a white collar or something here? Just take it. What are y'all doing? Microphones? Making a rap album? Oh, I would. Come on. Can you believe?

I would buy it. Cuts through the defense like a hot knife through sponge cake. That sounds delicious. Oh, you're lucky I'm not a drug addict. You're lucky I'm not an alcoholic. You are. I'm lucky I'm not a killer. I love this team and I'm really trying to be a figure in their lives that they can rely on.

Oh. Listen to soccer moms on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, wherever you get your podcasts. Agent will never, ever want to leave money on the table. That's how they feed their family. The more money they get, the more money they get. The more money the player gets, the more money they get. Tom, I mean, is he just smarter than everyone else?

Is he just lucky? I don't necessarily have the answer, but he just did this a little differently. Kevin Durant, when he re-signed with the Warriors, remember he just signed a little one-year contracts, took a little less. I think it was his second or third year so they could resign Andre.

Agu Dada and keep the dynasty going. Now, it was only a couple million dollars, but I'd say most NBA players are like, no, you just take the fucking max and make the team worry about it. He didn't think like that. He realized, like, I want my team the best chance to win. So we went from like 27 to 24 or 25. I can't remember the exact number.

And they resigned Igudala. Now, ultimately, they got rid Aguadala of the fallen year, but it enabled them to have a little more wiggle room. Because the rules are the rules. Like everyone, if it was baseball, and everyone could make money, we wouldn't be having these conversations, but it's not.

So whenever I see a team or a fan base, like, you know, we should re-sign this guy, no, you just don't have the money. That's not the way the economics of the league work. And Tom, I mean, he's an outlier as just an all-time great player, but his ability to always sign for less, like, is it that random? Did he really luck into these six, seven Super Bowls?

Or did he actually kind of stack the decks and realize, well, hey guys, I'm still a multimillionaire. still worth hundreds of millions of dollars. I'm still getting paid a ton off the field. I'm just allowing my team every guy that I want to keep or think we should keep. I'm giving them the wiggle room to do it. And look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. What are they doing?

They re-signed Levante David, who I thought was going to get a lot of money on the open market. They signed to, I think, two years, $25 million. They tagged Godwin. They're working on a deal with Shaq Barrett. They would not have been able to do that. Definitely two or three of those guys are gone. Maybe all three, if Tom's making $45 million, which he's definitely worth.

But Tom, big picture, I'll take a little. less because I'll win and then I'll keep printing checks once I retire. Whether you're a student, looking for a new career or a building professional who wants new skills, PG&E offers free online training on energy efficiency and electrification. Enroll at pg.e.com slash training. Look through your children's eyes to see the true magic of a forest. It's a storybook world for them. You look and see a tree.

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Adoption of teens from foster care is a topic not enough people know about and we're here to change that. I'm April Dinwiddie host of the new podcast, Navigating Adoption, presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Each episode brings you compelling real-life adoption stories told by the families that live them with commentary from experts. Visit Adoptuskids.org slash podcast or subscribe to navigating adoption presented by Adopt U.S. Kids. Brought to you by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families and the Ad Council. Okay, free agency is, I'm recording this on Thursday. If you're listening this on Friday,

you know, basically the unofficially signings can happen, you know, Monday and Tuesday, right? And then it becomes official on Wednesday. So it's, we're really here. By the time I record on Monday to go into Tuesday, I bet we have a decent amount of unofficial signings, right? We already have the big trade. I've heard some rumors, some big trades are brewing, but you never know until they get unofficially announced.

Here's what I do know. Two huge moments for GMs and coaches, right, these next month and a half. Free agency in the draft. The draft is completely different, right? They're going to be, let's just use the quarterbacks, for example. There are going to be three or four quarterbacks, let's say draft in the top ten. Let's just say four. Fields, obviously Lawrence won, Wilson Fields, and let's say Mac Jones.

All go in the top ten. Probably two of those four guys aren't going to be any good. Mel Kuyper told me he thought the bust potential of Mac Jones is pretty high. You can hear it on Haber-Mittalcalf podcast, we said Mel Kuiper. Living legend, no big deal. And he's right. Like, if four or five quarterbacks are drafted in the first round, probably two of them have a chance to be good.

One of them's a pro bowler. Two of them are complete bus. But in fairness to those kids, 21, 22-year-olds, they get drafted. They have zero, zero power where they go. Absolutely none. It'd be like if you were a smart guy, and, you know, guy like me, UCLA, Stanford's, cows,

all those schools declined me. No, John, you can't come here. That's why I had to go to Cal Poly. It was the only good school I got into. That in UC Davis, but I lived in UC Davis, so maybe they gave me a pity admittance. None of the UC schools were interested in this guy. Why? Not intelligent enough.

Some of you guys that went to elite academic institution, Stanford, Vanderbilt, Northwestern, you know, wherever. Imagine if you were the cream of the crop. You know, the number one guy in your graduating class at Northwestern, and you were a finance major. And Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, all these companies, Google could, there was a draft. And you didn't get to pick where you went. It was like, boom, you're the number one guy on the open market.

And all of a sudden it's like, Merrill Lynch got Billy from Minnesota, number one guy from Northwestern. Genius has incredible computer skills. and he's great at manipulating the market. We think this guy is a high ceiling. And you're like, I wanted to go to, you got to move to L.A. You're like, I wanted to go to New York. And you didn't get to pick. That's what the draft is.

We know that, right? The kids have zero power. You get drafted by these teams, hell, even in the later rounds, right? It's why people will always tell you in the six or seventh round, you're better off, even though it's hard to say you're better off not getting drafted because it's incredible to tell someone you got drafted in the NFL. But sometimes you're better off being an undrafted free agents. because you get to pick the team.

But in free agency, you do get to pick the team. And listen, the NFL, because, especially this year, for the middle class, like what I've been told, I'm sure many of you read, that the high-end guys, right, Janik and Daqway, is going to get a ton of money. Joe Thuny, who actually Scout told me he's not that good, but I would imagine the guy gets a lot of money. Any good player or a high-end pro-bowl level player on the open market is going to get a ton of cash.

The middle class, with the cap coming down, which is the way it works in society, like, who got screwed in Corona? I don't know, the middle class and the poor, right? The rich got richer, dramatically richer. The middle class always gets screwed. Always. I don't know if this is true or not,

but I saw that California, our sales tax is 8%. I tried to, someone tweeted the sales tax now in California is 10.25%. Again, don't know if it's true. If it is true, the sales tax, that does not impact the millionaires. It does not impact the rich. Do you know who that impacts? The dude making 50 grand.

The family of four. It doesn't have much disposable income. The middle class is always getting screwed. They get screwed in these CBA negotiations. It's just, it's tough. You always get the short end of the stick because you don't have as much money. Or in this case,

there's not as much money going around so they pinch pennies with you. And again, we're talking about millionaires here, so we're not going to lose sleep over. from them, but if you were an $8 million player on a normal free agent year, maybe this year you'd get three or four. And I think a large percentage, this is just an educated guess, of the middle class of players, you know, like just a solid starting guard, you know, a third wide receiver, a nickel

corner, are going to sign potentially one-year contracts. Part of signing a one-year contract is within a year, you're going to be looking for a job again. and I would factor in more than money when looking at this if I was in that situation. If you're going to give me a three-year deal and guarantee multiple years, I get it. I have security, financial security. But if you're just going to give me a one-year deal,

money shouldn't be the driving force because what if the worst team in the NFL or a coach that you don't believe in or a scheme that doesn't make any sense is offering you the one-year deal? Well, if they're offering me one-year $6 million, or I go somewhere else for one-year-four million dollars, I know that I perfectly fit.

I know the team is way better. Let's say Seattle, a Green Bay, a team that's won a lot. I go, I'm going to be way more valuable succeeding, making plays in primetime games, in games that matter. And then if the cap goes up next year, which everyone thinks it's going to, I can cash back in. But if you're going to sign these one-year deals or even these fake two or three-year deals,

but it's only one-year guaranteed, and you go to a place that you know probably won't have success or something that you're not comfortable on, it could backfire and it could backfire on you hard because you have a bad season, they cut you next year, and you're not very valuable in the open market. And on most years, we get it, right? Players, the NFL, career's so short, you don't have a choice.

But I would approach this a little bit different. And the hard part is for players are the agents. They profit a lot more when the contract is bigger, even if it's just one year 4 million or 1-year-6 million, even if the $6 million place is way worse. They won't care. They'll send them to the $6 million spot. But you're going to see some guys make some terrible decisions this offseason

because they're putting tough spot. And back to what I said, the middle class, they don't have leverage in any walk of life, right? They have the least amount of money. They have the least amount of power, usually in any leverage situation when it comes to business, whether it's in society or whether it's in football, whether it's in any pro sport.

The middle guy always kind of, is getting quote unquote the scraps of whatever industry you're in, which if you're in pro sports, scraps aren't bad. Like I said, we're talking millionaires. But when you are, all these people want to have success, you want to play well, you want to go to places that are going to give you the best chance to be not just a good player,

but team success, because with team success comes financial success, I think how much money Tom Brady made all those guys in Tampa. Right, the franchise tag, the contracts, they became a lot more valuable. Why? Because you watch them in real meaningful games. It's hard. Listen, I've evaluated free agents when I was a pro scout. When you play on terrible teams, it's like, I don't know.

I mean, none of these games matter. But when you play on playoff level teams, all your games matter. And then I can evaluate you in the playoffs. So I just hope some of these players take a step back, take a deep breath, and evaluate their circumstances and their potential suitors

maybe a little differently than they typically would. Just because the setup of these contracts this offseason for the non-elite guys is probably going to be unique. It might be a record number of one-year deals for guys that always would have got multiple-year contracts and because they all want to hit the market next year. Well, if you want to hit the market, you want to come off a good season.

You would much rather, it's much easier to break up or get a divorce when you're rich and skinny. right than when you're just when you look terrible and you don't have any money like good luck hitting the open market single that one will work out for you just like it's it's much easier hit the open market yeah i just i had a record season production wise than like you know just it went bad for us i know i only had 25 catches but i'm telling you i'm a 75 catch guy it's like well i just watch you not really it's not my fault's the quarterback yeah i can just evaluate the film i'm like sorry you're not worth that much money you got to factor in more than

just money sometimes Okay, let's go Middlecoff mailback at John Middlecoff, Instagram. DM's wide open. Come hang out with your boy. From Will, quick question. As a Saints fan, why hasn't Drew retired yet? Like, is he coming back or is there some advantage if he waits until the league year starts? Starting to get worse, he's coming back.

I love the guy like family member, but last year, the fat lady sang, and I'd hate to see it end worse for him. What's going on? It's a great question. I do not have the answer to. I don't know. It doesn't, I don't know if there's cap purposes for him waiting. He reduced his salary, right, from $25 million to the veteran minimum.

So I don't know if it really makes a difference, right? Whether he retires or not, he's on the books. So I get, I don't know. It is a little bizarre. I do think it has to do with the logistics of the cap and the money. To me, him moving his money down, I think shows you, regardless whether he comes back or not, he's not going to take up any cap space. At least the least amount he possibly can't.

Why do we always look at the big school quarterbacks coming out of the draft and saying they're going to hit in the league because they have played in big games and have played against top defensive talent? But looking throughout the last 20 years, most of the successful quarterbacks came out of smaller schools. Yeah, I wouldn't say that's quite true, right? Tom Brady went to Michigan. Peyton Banny went to Tennessee when they were a power.

Aaron Rogers went to Cal when Tedford had them rolling. you know, Drew, uh, Drew, Drew, uh, Drew, Drew, uh, who was a Power 5 program, but you're right. I mean, not a, not a major player. Uh, Alabama had no good quarterbacks. Burrow went to LSU and Ohio State. Uh, Maddie Ice, Boston College.

I'm just thinking up top of my head. I hear you. You know, Russell Wilson transferred to Wisconsin. Uh, it's fair. I just think because typically the best quarterbacks, the most talented quarterbacks in the draft are the Power 5 schools. But like I talked about with Dak, pure talent does not determine your success in the NFL.

Like, Tom Brady, his relentless nature, his determination, his discipline, Peyton Manning and Drew Breeze's study habits. I mean, there's so much more that goes into playing quarterback than just athletic traits. I think it's fair to say the athletic traits, you need the bare minimum of NFL athletic traits, right, if that's like Drew Breeze. And then most guys, if Drew Breeze is, like the minimum. Most guys, if Drew Bree's a five,

and let's say who would be a 10, like Rogers in his peak would be a 10 or Mahomes. As long as you're a 5, you know, you can become a pro, and a Hall of Famer like a 7, right? Peyton Manning, what's his defining athletic characteristic? His height? He's huge.

He is a massive man, but I think he'd admit to it. He didn't have a great arm. He couldn't run. It was just he worked on his accuracy. He knew where all the defensive players were going to be. I think he's a great example of, like, maximizing all the other stuff. So I just think that it's intangible. They're like, why is the draft never become an exact science?

Because I can't quantify the intangibles. In the intangibles in the sport of football, because once you get drafted, you're probably meeting a lot of the minimum physical and athletic requirements. How do I determine how tough you are? How do I determine how focused you are? how do I termed how disciplined you are? Because even if I'm getting rave reviews,

what happens once you start making $10, $15, $20 million? I've never made $20 million. I hope I'd stay pretty locked in. But what if you told me next year, John, you made $20 million? You spend the same amount of time getting ready for these podcasts. You spend the same amount of time creating content? I'd hope, yeah. I mean, I like doing this.

I'm passionate about it. I know people like it, which gives me a lot of joy. but I don't know I have nothing but respect for individuals whether it's players whether it's coaches whether it's people in business

that keep the pedal to the metal once they make it's one thing like make a first million right it'd be like okay but you can't like retire off a million dollars but if you made 20 30 40 50 million dollars

and you go you know what this guy works harder now than he did back then or equally as hard like Belichick and Andy Reid I'd never been around Belichick, but I've heard enough stories from people that have and just knowing Andy like, how do they keep working so hard?

How is it possible? They have $100 million in the bank. How do they do it? And I often just question myself, like, do I have that in the bag? How did Tiger Woods? His back broke, his body broke, his personal life broke.

He had already accomplished. He was always super rich. How did he work his way back to ultimately winning the Masters in 2019? What drove him to do that? And for Tigers unique, because we saw it from a really, really young age. But a lot of guys, it's hard to quantify that. Right?

Like, if Trevor Lawrence becomes a star or not, it'll be because this guy's unfazed by success. This guy's unfazed by money. This guy is the hardest working guy in the building. And you never truly know until you get him in the building. Right? I mean, it's just a human, like, what drives you, right? And I'd argue the most successful people are not driven by money.

right? And one thing Brady said in that Howard Stern interview and Howard was asking him like this was again it was weird listening because this was before the season and Howard asked him and Howard's not a sports guy and Howard goes Tom the one thing I do not understand you have an unlimited amount of money your wife has money you're healthy you're 42

you have accomplished everything humanly possible nobody argues that you're the best player not the best player in league history why are you like why are you risking hurting your legacy and Tom goes never once in my life

when I was young and even throughout my Patriots career did I worry about like what will my legacy say like I didn't get into football for the legacy hell I didn't get into football for the money

I got into the football because I loved playing football and with that the money came you know success came fame came I didn't get in it to it for any of that stuff. I really truly believe

if you enter an industry, whether it's playing a pro sport, whether it's any business, if you get into it for the right reasons in passion and love and two success, that's the follows. But I think we're obsessed, and I was actually thinking when Tom said that, I'm like, you know who you use the word legacy

a lot is Russell Wilson? Like, should you like, I never heard Peyton Manning talking about his legacy. I don't even hear Rogers talking about his legacy. Should you be talking about your legacy? Did Michael Jordan talk about his legacy when he was playing? Or did you just dominate. Did Tiger talk about his legacy in his heyday? Or did he just, he was just driven to play? Do you think Belichick is like obsessed with his legacy or is he's trying to win the next game?

So I, it's just, I think the most successful people in life are the thing that makes them the most successful is like the thing you can't quantify. Like, why did Jeff Bezos never tap out in like the 90s when it, you know, is this really going to work? Is this not going to work? I don't know, something inside of them, right? Hypothetically, what teams would consider signing Dack Prescott, especially for over 30 million? I think the Cowboys should have called his bluff. I kind of agree.

I would say Washington would sign them. I'd say the Bears would sign them. I'd say those two teams would sign them for sure. I'd say there'd be a bidding war between Washington and the Bears. Someone would pay him, maybe not 40 million, but I think he'd make 30 to 35. Long time listener. I think adding Richard Sherman to the Raiders is no-brainer.

He can help mentor the young talent in the secondary and can help the young core buy into Gus Bradley's defensive scheme. He might be the most valuable get-in-free agency looking back. I tend to agree. And I've talked to Richard a little bit over the years. He's clearly a really eye-level guy. I'd say this, though, for his San Francisco tenure, one thing, and I remember going to a practice when they first signed him,

and he had the sleeve on his Achilles, even practice. He was like just on the sideline. And he was cheering on the guys. Like he's a he's a force at practice. You feel him. And one, he's just big. Like probably, you know, a lot of lot of people if you've ever been to an NFL practice, a lot of the DBEs, you know,

range between like 5, 10, and 6 feet. They're not that tall. There's some of the smaller guys on the team. Richard is huge. I mean, Richard is a legit 6-3, he's long, he stands out. But one thing that helped Richard be a mentor with the Niners is he was an all-proest.

second year. Pro Bowler. He was one of their best players. So I'm with you on the mentoring thing, but if you don't think he can play anymore and last year he got injured, he can't really run. And listen, I'm a Richard Sherman fan. I just, to me, there's a price. You know, like, can I get them one year $3 million? Or do I got to pay for mentoring one year $8 million? Because Richard's also his own agent. I don't think he's into taking discounts. But that's to me where it would, I'm fascinated to know what Rich Truman makes this year. I think it'll probably be a one-year deal. Typically, you know, the Raiders, I don't know.

I do think it helps, but if Richard, let's just say, over the hill and he can't really play anymore, the mentoring thing, I think, can be a little overrated. It helps if you're playing. Like, JJ Watt, if you play 16 games, he could be a mentor if he's just playing. But if you only play half the games because you're injured, I do think it can become a little more difficult.

I guess I think that can be a little overrated. I think you do a fantastic job explaining the business and scouting side of professional sports. It's always insightful. I've always been interested in working for a franchise preferably in Major League Baseball. Other than playing through college, I have no experience in baseball, but would love your advice about how to getting into the world while also making money. I'm not in a financial position to make next to nothing just to chase a dream. Why I haven't pursued it?

I don't have a great answer to that. Because when I pursued, quote, unquote, my dreams, I didn't have anything mattered, right? I was in my early 20s. I could live off 12 grand, whatever Fresno State paid me. When I got to the NFL, it's either 20 or 25. I mean, I made no health benefits. But I could survive off that.

I did actually pretty easily. Actually, thinking back, my first year in Philly, we had the young staff. I was going out on the weekends. I had enough. Now, you don't pay for food, at least in football. You don't pay for food. My gym was free. My clothes, dry cleaning, all that stuff was free.

So you're able to cut some costs working in professional sports. I do think this. And listen, I don't know if you have a kid. I don't know if you have a wife. So I can only speak from my truth. My truth was I could handle it because I got in at a really, really young age and I didn't need any money.

I would not be able to do that now, right? I think the longer you just make excuses in your head, I can't work for next to nothing, it's going to be over. You're not going to have a shot. Because when I got to the NFL, Duce Daley, now granted, he had already made money. When he got into coaching,

he started as a coaching intern. Worked a year as a coaching intern. My guess would be the Eagles paid him like 30 or 40 grand. Now, again, he had money because he had played in the NFL, but he was willing to do that. You know, Matt Nagy famously quit, a real estate job with a family. I mean, Matt Nagy's got like four or five kids.

I think he's got four boys, maybe five boys. Definitely four boys. Married, was making like six figures, just quit playing in the AFL, quit the job and took like a $30,000 job with the Eagles, give or take. It might have been more than that, might have been a little less, and did it. And he was probably, you know, 30, 10 years ago,

I bet he was 32, 33 years old when he did it. So, you either just got to dive all the way in and figure it out. or just don't ever do it. But it's one of those things. If you're going to have regrets about, it sucks. Like, I, luckily, I don't have any regrets. People have to ask, like, do you want to go back?

I'm like, no, I don't. I like, my life's way better now. I like doing what I do now more. But I'm also glad that I did it. Because I remember in college, like, I really want, I wanted to work in pro sports so bad. Even before I got to the NFL, I just wanted to work in pro sports.

I didn't necessarily know how to get there. I actually thought it was going to work in Major League Baseball. Then the football thing just kind of took off. And I got lucky. I got trained by the right guys, and I got pretty good at it. But I just wanted to work in pro sports. And then after I did it, I was like, yeah, you know, it was cool from the fact that I made really close friends, some younger guys in the league that I call really good buddies.

I got to work for, obviously, a fantastic head coach, a Super Bowl winning GM, all these guys, I can text at any moment, like, that's special part. But the actual football stuff, like some of it to me was like, yeah, you know, wasn't all was cracked up to me? Even though it was, I'm just glad I did it. I don't have regrets. Even though there's, I don't know if there's amount of money, if you go, Middlecoff, I'll pay you a million dollars to go beat the bushes and drive around and scout players. Like, that doesn't sound very fun to me.

But at the time, it sounded like all I wanted to do. And I did it. It was cool. Accomplished. It was fun, right? So I just think you don't ever have regrets in life. But I can't speak for your financial situation. The quicker you do it, though, the easier it is to get past like that first year making no money.

because the reality is the entry level positions it's just supply and demand they don't have to pay much. The craziest thing about DAC's contract is how it changes the market what do you think of the Derek Carr contract? Well, I think Derek Carr and Dak

have a lot of similarities. If you put them on really good teams, you can win double-digit games and make the playoffs. If you put them on bad teams, you'll probably win less than nine or ten games, right? Historically, they have.

But Derek makes half as much as Dak Prescott now. Like, if I was Derek Carr, and there were rumors that the Raiders might extend them, under no circumstances, let me repeat, zero circumstances. I'm signing extension. Because I go, holy mother of God,

if Derek Carr were a free agent right now, what would the Bears or Washington football team offer Derek Carr? How would he not make $35, $40 million a year? That's why Derek makes 20, I mean, easily. one of the best deals in football for a guy that's not on a rookie contract. I appreciate everyone, listen. Have a great weekend. Let's get ready for free agency.

And enjoy the Players' Championship. I have some cash, many players. Can't wait to watch. That's what I will be doing this weekend. Probably drinking and watching the Players' Championship, if you want to holler at me, DM me. And have a great weekend. Adios, Godspeed.

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