The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Steelers/Ravens Throwback, Derek Carr Leverage, Eagles Peaked (?), CJ Stroud Statement

Episode Date: January 2, 2023

John discusses the appeal to the Steelers/Ravens hard hitting throwback SNF matchup, why the weirdness surrounding Lamar Jackson’s contract has resulted in an underachieving season for Baltimore, if the Eagles peaked or are still a playoff threat, why Derek Carr has all the leverage over the Raiders in their upcoming divorce, why the Saints asking for draft picks for Sean Payton is delusional, and if CJ Stroud’s statement game against Georgia will be enough to move him into the Top 5 of the upcoming draft.  Subscribe NOW and follow Middlekauff and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content. It's always FanDuel for the best wagering action! #volume #herdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer,

Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal, but encouraged.

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

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The Volume. The Three Now Podcast with me, John Middilcough, is presented by Fandual Sportsbook. There's no better place to make every moment more than with Fandual. America's number one sportsbook, very easy to use, safe and secure,

you get your winnings fast. I cannot recommend it enough. Love gambling with Fanduel. If you are new, just download the Fandual Sportsbook app to get started now, Sign up with promo code, Colin, so they know we sent you. What is going on, everybody, John Middlecock, three and out podcast, Sunday night football, little old school backyard brawl.

NFC, North style, Raven, Steelers. Not going to lie, enjoyed it. But Steelers find a way to win. A lot of other stuff going on, right? NFC East, Giants are in. Eagles, I mean, leaking water hard. Someone needs to fill the leak because they got some issues right now.

The football team commanders, not a good couple weeks stretch for them at all. The Saints want a first round pick for Sean Payton. The Colts really want to hire Jeff Saturday. Derek Carr under no circumstances should accept a trade. He's got a no trade clause. And I'd given a little apology to my man, C.J. Stroud, who was pretty awesome the other night

and some other thoughts on the two college football games, as well as sources. Coward might be coming on the show on Tuesday. We'll see we're efforting some people, see if his people can talk to my people. And yeah, Middilkoff mailbag. We'll put one on Tuesday's show as well. At John Middlecoff.

At John Middlecoff is the Instagram. Happy New Year. Hopefully everyone had a great new year. I was bedridden with this head cold. I don't even know what the hell I got. But, you know, tougher men probably would have been fine. You put a little cold in me. It throws me off.

Hopefully everyone's feeling good. Hopefully everyone had a good New Year with your friends, your family, your loved ones. And if you're me, you're a 38-year-old and you're bed by 10 o'clock. Or if you're having the time of your life, I'm jealous. I'll live vicariously through you, even though I don't know you and probably never will. So yeah, let's dive in. Football, home stretch, baby. Playoffs right around the corner.

Let's do it. Okay, before we dive in to the Sunday night game and the rest of this weekend, I want to tell you about my friends at game time. Right now, go to the game time. GameTime.com, game time, download the app. And listen, right now, all around the country, right? We got playoff football starting. We got one more week of the NFL.

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last minute tickets, lowest price, guaranteed. Let's dive into the Sunday night game. First and foremost, before we dive into the actual game, I'm a sucker for old school football. You know, young guy like points as much as the next person.

I understand the way, the league has changed. I understand why they have done that. I enjoyed the two college football games that felt like they were both 75 to 70. I'm not opposed to touchdowns. I'm not opposed to wide receivers going off every single game. It's cool. But I still enjoy hard hitting ugly games. Now, unlike the 1980s or most of the 1990s, that's not the majority anymore. So that's Sunday night football game, Pittsburgh against the Ravens, which is, let's face it, one of the most physical rivalries in the modern day NFL. And it still kind of has that culture and ethos to it,

even in a league that is very pass happy. And while it's pretty ugly to watch, now, Katie Pickett was awesome on the last drive and made a couple throws throughout the game. But for the most part, I wouldn't exactly call him Tom Brady or Peyton Manning. And Tyler Huntley, like, let's face it, kind of stinks. And the Ravens passing game, even when Lamar is around, is not great.

I just enjoy watching that level of football, that level of violence, and that level of ugliness every once in a while. I wouldn't want it every single game. I wouldn't want to watch it start to finish Saturday to Sunday night. I get it. The football has changed. But I still have a part of me that enjoys big hits, big tackles, where it feels like there might be a fight at any moment, where if you told me that Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh got into a shoving

match and I was at dinner and I got back and you told me that, I might believe you. That's not the case in the majority of football games now. And there's a level of, you know, hatred. Let's face it, in pro sports now, the hatred because of the movement with players and free agency, isn't the same. I had Kim Hayward on this offseason, who is going to go down as an all-time great stealer. And I asked them, like, what's the big old rivalry? The Ravens, which he He clearly hates or Michigan. And he didn't even hesitate. Of course it's Michigan.

These guys that all play at these big universities, the rivalries and the hatred toward their college rival is real. When you get to the NFL, not that you're like some hired mercenary, but Seattle of the 49ers had an incredible rivalry in the beginning of the decade. And then the 49ers signed Richard Sherman and he became an all pro.

Like at the end of the day, it's business. Like most of us. We might hate whatever business or industry were, in our competition, well, if that business offered us quadruple what we're making, we'd go in a New York minute because money talks shit walks. And there's still a level and partly because Tomlin has been there so long, Harbaugh's been there so long, that game just pops on TV, even when it's ugly. Like, I'm recording this. I don't know what game will be the Sunday night game, but like Jacksonville and Tennessee, probably going to be pretty ugly, even though there's a lot on the line and

their division rivals, it will feel nothing like what we witness tonight. And speaking of what we witness tonight, there's still a game left. So we'll see if this record, you know, sustains and maintains. Mike Tomlin never had a losing season. Obviously, he's 8 and 8, but 17-game season, if he loses his last game to the Browns, he would not, it would end the streak. But I was thinking watching that game when Kenny Pickett was driving down the field, Najee Harris was making plays, and T.J. Watt was,

just awesome. I mean, what a badass. But obviously the Steelers, you know, we talk a lot in pro sports about culture. And it's hard to kind of put your hand on it. You definitely can't quantify it. Clearly, whatever Russell Wilson, the culture he brought to Denver didn't work, right? And clearly the culture in Seattle just kind of sustained. It's like, well, Pete Carroll sets the culture. Does the head coach set the culture? Do the player set the culture? Or is it kind of a combination of everyone. And I was thinking watching the game the night and watching the Steelers players, I think it's less about a culture and more about a standard. And I think I've heard Mike Tomlin use that word standard. And to me, when there's a standard, like most people you meet, right,

later in life, 30, 40, 50 years old or whatever that are just high level guys, typically at point in time in their life, their parents, a coach, whoever their mentor was, grandparents, whoever, you know, taught them growing up, there was a standard. in the home, stand up straight, look people in the eye, shake their hand, follow up, be early, just basic things in life. That stuff translates. And usually successful people have those traits. We don't come out of the womb with those traits.

We have to be taught that. Well, in football, in the NFL, I get to draft players. So I get to pick players in the draft who fit my culture. And the Steelers, think about their core guys. Cam Hayward, T.J. Watt. Minka Fitzpatrick, a guy I thought was, insane when they traded for him. First round pick has been fucking awesome.

Naji Harris. What a badass that guy is. And then they can take some flyers on some guys over the years. Antonio Brown. Once upon a time Harrison, the pass rusher was a pretty big flyer. Obviously George Pickens, you know,

some people did not have them on the draft board, but most of all, the standard is set by your core star players who every single day, work hard, come to work, high level players, violent players, focus players. Football means everything to them. So the standard in that organization,

whether they got Rathesberger thrown for 500 yards a game, or they got Kenny Pickett, you know, who's a little hit or miss, it's every single game we got a chance to win. And those guys are locked and loaded. And in my basically adult life, these last 20 years, that team has been made up of dudes who are not fucking around, whose standard is sky high. obviously Tomlin, high-level guy.

Really good coach. Very focused, great leader. Just a dude's dude. I mean, the real deal. But I bet he'd tell you a lot has to do with the guys that we surround this team with. The leaders in the core group of these guys. Because the reason they never lose, even when it looks as ugly as it did tonight, is T.J. Watt making play after play.

Mika Fitzpatrick making play after play. Now, their young guy, Naji Harris, four-year player. Alabama, standard, obviously sky high at Alabama. And that's what you get. And they just find a way to win. Now, do the Steelers have some super high ceiling with Kenny Pickett? Of course not. Like, do I think he made an incredible play at the end of the game?

It was really impressive. Do I think that they are going to be some AFC contender? Not when you factor in Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen. It's a tough crew. But the one thing they will do, a great job of, not a. good job of, a great job of, is putting high-level players around them. And the one thing that hit me tonight, and I'm not the biggest Kenny Pickett guy, but if you can surround Kenny Pickett's, the Mack Jones, the Kirk Cousins, the Dak Prescott's with really high-level teams and good

players around them, you got a chance to win double-digit games every year. And to me, next year, Kenny Pickett will build off that, and maybe you got a chance to be a 10-11 win team. Now, do I think you're going to be the Cincinnati Bengals? I do not, because Joe Burrow is the difference. But you have a better coach if you're a Steeler fan and you have a group of guys that aren't going to be intimidated by the Bengals. But the difference is in this league, for the most part, you can ugly up games like it was at night, but you get in games where you got to score 25 plus points. It's an issue for the Ravens of the Steelers sometimes. Let's just face it. And speaking of the Ravens, like, what are they doing? It's crazy that if they would have won the night, they would have had

a chance to win the division if they beat the Bengals next week. And it still felt whenever I've watched him basically the last couple months, I just don't see it. Now, Lamar's been in and out of the lineup, and who knows if he's going to come back next week, kind of a bizarre situation ever since they weren't able to sign them. But what is there going to be identity moving forward? Because to me, there's a one and done team in the playoffs. They're a lot to make the playoffs, obviously, with double-digit wins, and they got the, six-seed pretty much.

I mean, they haven't locked up, even if they lose next week to the Bengals. But, you know, they haven't paid him yet. And now the situation, if he wouldn't sign the contract, last year, even though he had a downseason, it's not like he's going to take less this year. Never forget, Dak Prescott, who turned down a huge contract and then was offered, you know, got $160 million guaranteed the following year after he shattered his ankle. So they're kind of in no man's land with their quarterback situation. And they have a good core group of players and like the Steelers, a mindset and a standard in

the organization. But most people think Greg Roman has a ceiling when it comes to the passing game. He does. and this Lamar situation has gotten kind of weird. And looking back, I thought Lamar made a poor decision because they offered him more than fair value, but he made a decision. And it's weird because it feels like they're still close,

but there have been some rumblings. Now, granted, it's on the internet, so you never know what to say, especially things coming from like Reddit, like is he kind of, I would say, prolonging this injury because of the situation with his contract? I don't know. But this situation,

for being a team that's going to go to the playoffs, feels like the Ravens have underachieved. And it feels like they're in somewhat of a transitional period. And right now with their passing game, like Greg Roman has never proved that he can coach the passing game. That is not his deal. Like that's, he didn't work with Colin Kaepernick. Now, Lamar is a better passer,

but you watch the Ravens, you know, go, oh, it's just, they're close to being able to pass it like the other teams. And here's the thing. And same goes for the Steelers. You're in the AFC. you're not dealing with cousins and DAC and Purdy. Like you're dealing with Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, who's in your division. So they got to figure out a way to get more explosive and they got to figure out this quarterback situation.

I don't think he's going to be on a different team, but you kind of convinced me of anything. This thing has gotten pretty weird, pretty fast. 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 huge. potential. Either way, the podcast Superhuman documented it all, embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble

stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win. A win is a win. I don't care what you're saying. Yep, that's me. Clipper Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated.

One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment, and the next we'll talk about life, mental health, purpose, and even music. The Clifford Show isn't just a podcast. It's a space for honest conversations, stories that don't always get told, and for people who are chasing something bigger. So if you've ever supported me or you're just chasing down a dream,

this is right where you need to be. Listen to the Clifford show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Football season is underway. So now is the perfect time to download Fanduel, America's number one sportsbook.

Because right now, new customers get a no-swet first bet up to $1,000. That's free bets back if your first bet doesn't win. Just sign up using the promo code, Colin. Fanduel has all your favorite bets from money line to point spreads to player props. You can combine your bets for a chance at a bigger payout with a same game parlay. The app is safe, secure, and super easy to use. Get paid your winnings fast. So sign up today with promo code Colin for your no sweat first bet.

Make every moment more this season with Fandul, official sportsbook partner of the NFL. 21 and over in president, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, or West Virginia. Must wager in designated offer market. Max bet $5. Restrictions apply. See full terms at sportsbook.fandul.com. Gambling problem? Call 1-800 next step or text next step to 5334.

2, Arizona, 1-88-7-8-7-7, or visit ccpg.org slash chat, Connecticut, 1-800 gambler, or visit at Fandul.com slash RG, Colorado, Iowa, Indiana, Illinois, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, 18777-7-7-7-1-1-7-1-1-7 for confidential help, Michigan. 18778-8-NY, or text Hope NY, 467-New York, Tennessee Redline, 1-800-8888-97-8-8-9, Tennessee, 1-800-5-2-4700. Wyoming. Visit www.1-800 gambler.net, West Virginia. Let's talk about the NFCs. start with the Eagles.

Because I think I've seen a lot of people talk about the Eagles peaking early. Like they peaked too early. I've seen that out there on the internet streets. I think it's a little bullshit. Because listen, you always, like if your guys stay healthy

and you're a talented team, you're going to go through ups and downs in a season. You want to be playing your best football at the end of the year. That's a cliche thing to say. But ultimately, like, you just want to be healthy going into the playoffs. Like, you want to be healthy going into the playoffs.

And if the Eagles, especially in the NFC are healthy. They are clearly right there with the Niners as one of the best teams, not just in the NFC, I mean, them and the Niners are the two best teams in the NFC, but one of the best teams in the league. They are every single game, a guy is dropping like a fly.

I turned on the Eagles game today. I didn't have it on early, had like five games going. I flipped it on. As I flipped it on, the game is stopped. There is a cart on the field, and the Eagles are huddled around the cart. I'm like, what is going on?

and it's Josh sweat I think that's the right sweat hits his head into the running back I haven't seen anything since the game he went to the hospital obviously who know I don't have the updated information but clearly it wasn't good he was carted off went to the ambulance

starting pass rusher like this is not you can only overcome so many injuries you get to the point where you lose your quarterback who's a star you lose your right tackle who is a star You start losing some of these players Eventually it has the law of diminishing returns They lost a DB last week

They lost a pass rush for this week It's hard And the other thing in the NFL Even though I like Gardner Minchu If I was the Eagles I would feel very good about him Being my backup quarterback But there is a big gap

For the most part When you have a high-end quarterback And a backup And I thought that was on full display today Like Gardner Minchu is a good player He's gonna play in the NFL for a long time as a backup quarterback. But the drop-off with him and Jalen Hertz is pretty wide.

And the other thing is the Eagles offense. A lot of it is predicated on Jalen moving around and running the football. That's a huge element of what they do. And this year it's really opened up their passing attack. It's why A.J. Brown has been a start, even though Gardner did hit him on a sweet touchdown pass. Devonte's had a breakout season. Miles Sanders having a big year.

They missed that. And I just think that, listen, If sweats out now, if the DB they lost a couple weeks ago, he is for a while. If who knows about Lane Johnson will see this week about Jalen Hertz, you can't overcome that. You can overcome a random dude here, a missed guard here, and a special team are there. I can't take away four of your impact starters when one is your starting quarterback and the other is your best offensive linemen. It gets to the point where you're leaking oil. and you can lose all these games.

And that's kind of what happening right now. So I don't view the Eagles as like they peak too early. I just view the Eagles as they've had a fucking million injuries. And they're having injuries at the wrong time. If these injuries would have happened in early October, you know, it would have been a lot different. I watched it with the 49ers. They had Trent Williams went down, George Kittle went down.

They've had guys go down. But it happened earlier in the season. And then late in the season when they had to win, all those guys were on the field. So to me, the Eagles, like if they're not, especially their quarterback, and Lane Johnson, like, they're not going to win the NFC. I thought fully healthy, they could beat the Niners. Honestly, I don't know if they can beat the Giants this week if Gardner's going to play again.

And speaking of the Giants, like, I said it last week, and I'll say it again this week, and I'll say it over and over. But Sirianney's done with the Eagles is impressive. What Kyle Shanahan has done with his third-trane quarterback is awesome. It's like borderline unprecedented. I mean, he's won, what, four straight games with Mr. Irrelevant? It's crazy. But both those two teams, even listen, the Eagles are leaking oil, they still have a lot of good players. When the 49ers had injuries early in the season, they still had really good players.

Who's the New York Giants best player if you're not allowed to say Seekwon Barkley? Go. It's hard, right? What Brian Dayball's done this season is awesome. Now, here's the thing. They play the Eagles this week. The Eagles have to win to get the number one overall seat. The Giants are in, they cannot change their playoff seating at all. They honestly, in a weird way, have nothing to play for this individual week. But big picture, the Giants are not a Super Bowl team. So they're not like, and I understand coaches don't think like this, but Brian Dable's not an idiot.

Joe Shane, they're general managers, not a moron. Smart guys. These guys are hot. It's a high level duo. If you're the Giants, wouldn't it set the tone for your organization? And speaking of the standard, like the Steelers and the Ravens, start setting the standards. Because listen, some of these core guys, you had multiple draft picks this year. They're all playing.

Daniel Jones, more than likely is going to come back. You got guys on the team that aren't going anywhere. I think the Giants are going to take this game very seriously. Partly because who are they sitting? Daniel Jones, Sequin Barclay. Well, part of sitting a guy is because I think we can win a bunch of games moving forward. Do they really believe that? I don't think so.

Here's the other thing. Those two guys specifically are not necessarily their players next year, though more than likely Daniel Jones would be their quarterback. But Saquoan Barclay, like, wait, the Giants are really going to pay Saquoan Barclay? They might, but is that the hit? history of what New England guys do? We'll see. I know he's their best player, but they don't really have to worry about big pick, like this

week for the Niners, for example. Would they rush? And I don't even mean this rush. Would they play Debo Samuel? I'd argue it doesn't make that much sense. Why are you going to play them in a game against the Cardinals who honestly probably couldn't beat Arizona State right now? When your mindset's going to be to win three playoff games, and maybe, who knows, the Eagles lose

two playoff games. But that's all that matters. And you know you can do it because you've won playoff games and you have a Super Bowl level team. But here's the other thing. Debo Samuel is your player for years to come. You just gave him a contract extension. So you have to factor the short term and the long term. What's Brian Table

long term? I bet he has a lot more new players in two years than he has on this team. That's just, that was always going to be the case. So I would imagine and listen, what Brian Deable has done this year is remarkable. I think he plays this out. You somehow beat the Eagles and we saw a couple weeks ago, it wasn't even close. So it's an easy one for his guys to

to get the mojo going. And I said this the other night when the Cowboys won that weird game Thursday night, you know, whatever. It was a tough game to watch, but they just gave themselves a chance. And today is a good example. Eagles lose. And all of a sudden, the Cowboys are a win away and an Eagles loss away from the Eagles being the wild card team.

And I would say the most head scratching move today in the NFL. And this also just ironically has to, I don't even know if ironically is the right word, but just randomly. fall under this NFC East purview here, is the Washington football team commanders. I thought two weeks ago on Christmas Eve, the 49ers played the Washington commanders. I had had mimosas before that game even came on.

I was pretty toasty. And by the second half, when they yanked Heineke in that game, I remember thinking like, I've had about six, seven drinks by then. Ron, what are you doing? Heineke is not the reason that you are not in this.

game. Honestly, I thought he had made some plays. You're going to go to Carson Wentz. The reason your season got going in the right direction was because this young unnamed kind of random dude that most football fans beside the one playoff game he had against Brady don't know anything about gave you life. And clearly a lot of guys on the team liked him, believed in them. And there was like something to him, a moxie, you know, a panache. There was just, just something that he brought to the table. Do you have some limitations? Hell yeah. But Carson Wentz is not good at football. It's crazy because several years ago, I thought he was a star and going to be a superstar in this league. Me, like most people, dead wrong. He stinks. He's awful. And one thing to make the move in game, but then to go to Carson

Wentz in this game, I thought was pretty embarrassing. And I know he's getting crushed on social media today because he said he didn't know the playoff scenario. I'm going to give him a little bit of a past. The only thing in Ron Rivera's mind that mattered was beating the Cleveland Browns today, and he didn't do it. And honestly, I looked over at the score a couple times. It didn't even look that close. But to me, the season was over the moment

he went to the bullpen to Carson Wentz and then stuck with him. Like, what's your loyalty to this? Why do you think this guy is going to get you in a position when he's proven over and over and over again? And it shows you, I don't remember a player

that it's such a high high, right? Like he had a season where he was going to be the MVP, and then several years later, he just stinks. And teams just get worse when he plays. Pretty crazy. But Washington's done. The NFC East, we all made fun of that division before the season. Three teams. Three teams in the playoffs. So hat tip to them. A couple other things I wanted to hit on. First and foremost, Derek Carr. The Raiders, Jared said him look pretty good today. Raiders gave the 49ers all they could handle. They easily could have won the game. Easily. several times. But, you know, I've been watching the Raiders for a decade. They easily could have won a lot of games.

They end up losing, you know. Derek Carr, there's been a lot of talk. If you're listening to this, if you're a Colts fan, if you're a Seattle fan, if you're Seattle fan. I've been getting a lot of DMs. Like, I get a lot of Seattle DMs, actually. Like, why shouldn't we be all over? I'm like, yeah, you should.

I think the Colts make a lot of sense. I think the Saints would make a lot of sense. But here's the thing. If I'm Derek Carr, you only get leverage in life in business so many times. Right? And as a player, like as a NFL football player,

your leverage might come once in your career. Think about Aaron Rogers. Truly had it one time in his career in his last year. Peyton Manning had it one time in his career when he hit free agency. Obviously they have some when they're negotiating a contract. But I mean true leverage. This is what I want.

Give it or take it or I'm gone. Or I'm not coming to your franchise. This notion that the Raiders are going to trade Derek Carr, I think we need to pump the brakes. Derek Carr has a no trade clause. Now, I said last week that the Raiders sending him home was an embarrassment. They said today on the broadcast that it was Derek's idea. Listen, I will take back my shit-talking of the Raiders if Derek agreed to leave.

You cannot do that. That's a loser move. I would, if I was his representation, his agent, his friend, his confidant, under no circumstances you lose. You make them send you home. You stay. You show up to Brack. just you be the third quarterback.

They're not sending you home when you've just done that for three. You don't tuck your tail between the legs and leave. Now, I don't know. We got a lot of, this is all the Raiders side. If Derek, if they're lying, he needs to come out and say something. But here's what I know what I do if I'm Derek. I'm not accepting your trade because his contract is not guaranteed every single year. Every team can cut him.

If I'm Derek Carr, the reason quarterbacks don't get leverage that much, they don't ever hit free agency. The one time Kirk Cousins hit free agency, he got like $85 million guaranteed. If I'm Derek, I give up my middle finger and say, F you cut me. I'm not accepting any trade. And then I'll pick my destination. What is the minimum amount, Derek Carr? Flawed quarterback, but probably the best quarterback to hit the open market, him or cousins, in the last 10 years.

What would he get on the open market? Minimum, three years, 100 million, 60 guaranteed? Minimum? You don't think the Colts would give him that? Seattle? I don't think the Jets make much sense with the weather, but they'd have to think about it. They'd have to talk. What's he worth of the Saints?

I know some of these teams' cap situation. But if Derek Carr's a free agent, we saw Kurt Cousins, whatever, five years ago, or four years ago, or whenever he went to the Vikings, hit the open market and had the Jets and the Minnesota Vikings bidding on him. And at the time, when he got 85, his contract fully guaranteed, that was an eye-opening contract. Well, Derek coming off a weird year, I think most teams are going to judge Josh McDaniels, a loser. First team in NFL history do have a double-digit lead and blow it five times. in the second half this season.

Only team in NFL history to ever blow five second half double-digit leads. Josh McDaniels. Derek Carr, Lifetime, 65% pastor, 68% last year, this year, 60%. Warren Sharp had a good breakdown of some of his statistics.

Like, Josh McDaniels is the guy to bear a lot of blame these other teams are going to give it to him. So if I'm Derek Carr, the number one move you make, fuck you, Oakland or Vegas, cut me. Now, I'm not acting like Derek Carr's, Patrick Mahomes, or Josh Allen here. But he's got leverage.

You got this no trade clause. You got to use it. I would not let the Raiders benefit from what you've given when you just had this crazy breakup. A couple quick things on coaching. The Saints, they want a first round pick for Sean Payton. To me, that's kind of laughable. Like, it's over, guys. That just feels like you're being greedy.

He's never coming back to you. I think about right now, and listen, I've been looking, in the housing market for a while. People offered to buy my condo in the bay in the peak of the hysteria in 2021. I probably could have sold it for $150,000 more than it's worth today. But today, it's not worth that much anymore. And I still have it, right? A lot of you listening, you probably sold homes or bought homes in 2021. That market is not today's market. And honestly, it's never going back. And as someone that's kind of bidding on homes or sniffing around, I see a lot of people that like had their home on the market for 1.5, six months ago.

And they've dropped it like 1.4. And they're getting no offers. It's like, hey, guys, if you want to sell your home, you might have to take 1.2. You bought it for five. So you're still making $700,000. Do you want to take a profit or not? Because if things go haywire, it could be worth one at the end of next year. So just be prepared, right?

Like the Saints, he's never coming back to you. ever. So if you're Sean Payton, you're not going somewhere and making them give up a one. Like, hey, New Orleans, I'm not coming back to you. So you don't have a first round pick. I get you wanting a first round pick. You ain't getting it. It is not happening. Will you take like two threes? Because that's what you should do. What do they say? Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered. Like, you can want a lot of things. Like a lot of people have outrageous numbers on their home right now. Guess what? They're never selling for that ever. I'll promise you. and depending on where you live,

it's going to go for a lot less. Arizona. So if I'm the Saints, like start being realistic about this. And honestly, if I'm Sean Payton, I'm only going to a couple places. If Brandon Staley's won and done

and they fire him from me, I'd go there. I'm not going to Denver. I'm not going to Arizona. I'm not going to Carolina. So, you know, I'm not a lock to go. But Carolina,

or I mean, New Orleans is just thinking that they're going to get a high pick. Like, the reason the reason the Raiders, when they traded John Gruden to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for whatever, two ones and $8 million? Think how crazy that is. Al Davis wanted $8 million as well.

It wasn't just picks. I want cash. That must be a cool thing. Back in the day, they used to happen a lot more when all these teams had way less money than they had now. Like right now, can you imagine like $8 million to Jerry Jones would be like what? Like $80 to mirror you? I mean, that's $8 million.

By the time, I mean, $8 million. $8 million a lot. He just wanted cash as well as some picks. John Gruden was the Raiders coach. He was the Raiders coach. So he was like, you want my coach? Yeah, you got to give me two ones.

And he had just, he was one of the best coach to the league. Sean Payton is retired. He's done. Now, I understand you get compensation because of the rules he was under contract, but put down the pipe.

And I've read some studies. I haven't done, you know, the devil's lettuce lately, but it's a lot more potent in 2022 than it was, back in the day. So maybe, you know, Mickey Loomis and some of those people are on the wrong stuff because you're not getting the first round pick. And I saw this rap sheet said that the Colts, Jim Mersay wants to hire Jeff Saturday. Now, it gets uglier every single week. The Colts are,

they're terrible. I mean, they are a bad football team. And besides the Raiders win, they have not been very good. But when he hired this guy to be his interim, I think it's pretty clear. He wanted to make him his head coach. Because I understand, like Jim Ursay now has had Frank and he's had Chuck Bagano. Like, he's had these coaches since like Dungy. Then I think he wants to like, but then he watches him. He's like, I don't even think these guys are that good. And I understand if I was an owner and I was worth all this money and I had won before,

maybe I just want a coach that I liked. And a guy that I could just hang out with and call my friend. Now, you can say that's bad business and it is. But it's pretty clear that's what Jim Ursay wants. Now, can he hire him? Yeah, I mean, technically he can do whatever he wants. Would there be fan backlash? Well, are people in Indy going to cancel their season tickets?

Like, if they haven't done it yet, why would they do it when they hired Jeff Saturday? So I wonder if he is just balancing in his head like, this is the guy I want to hire, even though it's probably a terrible hire. But I would be somewhat prepared if I'm a Colts fan for them to hire Jeff Saturday. I mean, I kind of expected. I would say the eye opener of the day. The Green Bay Packers have, I mean, last week, last week, week against Miami on Christmas Day. That was not the prettiest game.

They were down double digits in the second half. Miami imploded. Tua was concussed. If you saw the story today, Jay Glazer said that Mike McDaniel, when they were going over plays, Tua said he couldn't even remember the plays, and then they looked at the play,

and then it was like, bad deal. But the Packers today, beating the living piss out of Minnesota. That was, because that game, more than judging the Packers was why we don't take the Minnesota Viking seriously. 41 to 17. It was 27 to 3 at halftime.

Like, come on, Minnesota. You're going to have that gutless of a first half on the road outside. It's for a team that is 12 and 4, their point differential is minus 19. Minus 19. I think the Niners is like 145 or something. They have the same record. Like minus 19.

Statistical anomaly. Impressive win by the Packers. A couple quick things on the college guys, because I, some Ohio State fans, and you guys are biggest fan base in the country. I have said over the year that I'm not the biggest C.J. Stroud fan. And like, you know, and I've admitted to this, I base some of my opinions off my friends in the NFL who have won Super Bowls that do this for a living. And I've talked to a couple guys, they're not the biggest C.J. fan.

No one disputes his ability to throw the ball, right? You just watch him in the pocket throws dimes. Two did the same thing. And part of the knock was, well, he's playing with the best wide receivers in the country. And like Tua, who had the most incredible lineup ever, can make it look really easy. Those beautiful balls. And C.J. is an accurate passer. Throws a gorgeous ball.

My knock on them was, listen, pocket quarterbacks in 2022, like, I like my guy to move. And my people that go through Ohio State say he's not that great of an athlete. And I had some of you guys in DMs that would fire in there and go, like, John, I think you're off on CJ. he's a better athlete than you realize. I'm like, well, I don't watch every state of the Buckeye or every game of the Buckeyes, but when I do watch him, I never see him move. And I just don't think he's going to be able to get away from guys in the NFL. Well, he plays Georgia, who have NFL guys everywhere, it's like, who the fuck's his guy?

And he's making plays with his legs, scrambling around, breaking tackles. It's like, if C.J. Stroud had played like that throughout his career, I think he would probably be the number one overall pick. But I have never, ever seen him do that. And maybe I'm crazy. Maybe I've missed some Iowa games or a game against Minnesota. Like, I'm sorry, the NFL not even taking those games that seriously. But he does that against Georgia. He was remarkable.

His, how just athletics, like, he's not a great athlete, but he's a much better athlete than I thought. And he was a playmaker. And to me, in 2022, obviously you have to win from within the pocket. And CJ can do that. But to be a good player in the NFL, I can't have you not be able to move. You have to give me some athletic. ability. These defensive linemen are too fast. Well, against some of the best defensive

linemen, arguably the best defensive linemen in the league, Jalen Carter, CJ was running around. So props to CJ, and listen, is one game going to elevate him to the number two overall pick? I don't know, but that was I know a lot of teams in the NFL did not have him as a top five player.

And that is the type game that makes you reassess some things. That was, it's hard to have one game where you completely kind of change, because he was viewed as a first round pick, but changed like the trajectory of the way people, and that's a game changer. That's like, holy shit. I remember Fields had that game against Clemson at Ohio State.

So, guys, this is the top two pick. He ended up going 11. People are it is. But yeah, impressive game by CJ. Also, impressive game yesterday by Bryce Young and Will Anderson. I guess this would have been, this would have been Saturday morning. Both those guys, more than likely Bryce going to be the number one overall pick and Will Anderson, depending on the quarterback's going to be a top

three or four player. They did not need to play in this game. And I talked about the Steelers, the standard. The standard in Alabama is fucking higher than the sky. This year, I would imagine Sabin would say it was kind of a disaster, even though they went 11 and 2, right?

They didn't make the SEC championship game. They just didn't look as good. But those two guys, to be such highly touted guys to play that well that both of them did this season, And then to play in the bowl game, and both of them come out, like, of course I'm playing in the bowl game. And the media who freaks out, like, listen, obviously it's very, very risky for them.

I just, the media who mainly is awful at business, like, I don't care about your opinions on what these guys should do or not. Like, these guys play football. If they want to play great, if they don't, I got no problem. I got no problem anyone's sitting out of bowl game. These guys do not need to play in the game. But if you don't think that that doesn't impress people around the league when they do that shit, it does. And there's a reason when one guy goes one and the other guy goes three that those teams, like, Those guys are wired like Pittsburgh Steelers.

And those type guys are typically winners. Guys that had bad weekends, Harbaugh brothers, I mean, that's a rough 24-hour stretch for Jim and John. I would say it's worse for Jim. The game was close at points, but for the most part, I've been watching Jim Harbaugh playing these big games as the 49ers, and he's a really good coach. He's won playoff games.

He's beat Ohio State now. but just something's a little off. When he needs to get over the hump, you run Philly Special early in the game, they just do things that are just head scratching. It really is. And it's crazy because you watch Ohio State play right after Michigan. You go, how did Michigan beat Ohio State?

Like I'm watching Ohio State, they're way faster, way more explosive. Even though when I watch Michigan, I completely understand, but then I watch it two separate, I'm like, I'm pretty sure Ohio State's better. And the final score was close. but it felt like at times TCU was the better team. And then Jalen Carter, the star defensive lineman number 88,

for Georgia, who's going to be a top, I'd say five player. He's going to be a top five player in the draft. He's like Fletcher Cox, but probably even a little more explosive. Fletcher was when he was young. Where was that guy yesterday? I mean, did he make a play? I think I saw he had one tackle. He had a PBU on a batted ball.

But like, I expect a little more. Remember Will Anderson last year in the playoffs? Remember some of those Georgia guys last year in the playoffs? Like, Jalen, like, you're going to be in this game. We're going to need a little more out of you, buddy. Like, that was a terrible performance by the guy. I mean, that was awful. I know CJ avoided him on one rush,

but I would like a little more out of my star defensive line in a big game against a team that's passing it all the time. But fun day of games. I mean, it felt like there were 8 million points scored. Fun to watch these NFL guys. the national championship should be fun. That number one at TCU, from all people that I know in the league, think he's going to be, you know, the first wide receiver taken.

So one more college football. I guess we got some college football games if you're listening to this Rose Bowl. Enjoy them. And I will talk to you guys Tuesday. Peace. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier.

This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey, 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

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