The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 and Out - Watson Intro Presser Debacle, Vet FA Reality Check, Owners Meetings, Panthers Red Flags

Episode Date: March 28, 2022

John discusses the ugly details from the Deshaun Watson introduction press conference debacle, why unsigned veteran free agents - like Bobby Wagner and Julio Jones - have a tough time coming to grips with making less money, why the owners meetings will produce another wave of deals, and why leaks coming out of Carolina could be a huge problem if David Tepper is the leaker.Follow John and The Volume on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest content and updates and check out FanDuel for the best wagering and daily fantasy action! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Sunday night. So you're probably listening to this on a Monday morning, afternoon day. Who knows? You know, we're about basically a month. If you're listening to this on March 28th, we are officially a month away from the National Football League's draft. So it's coming right down the pipe, not too far away. This week we have the owner's meetings. I'll dive into that a little bit.

Off the top, some thoughts on just DeShon Watson and everything that was Friday and that debacle of a press conference. And then just a couple thoughts on some of the veteran players that are still out and about. And there was a story today of the Panthers or on the Panthers that made me perk up a little bit. A little weird. We'll have shows all week. We'll have another big show Tuesday. we'll have a big go-low podcast on Wednesday

and obviously the master is a week away. Another podcast Friday. Obviously the weekend mailbag. I'll do a little bit mailbag as well. At John Middilkoff is the Instagram slide up in those DMs. We'll do it for Tuesday's podcast. Also subscribe to the podcast. Share it with your friends.

The three and out, I have a separate feed. If you listen through Collins' feed, I would greatly appreciate that. And hope everyone's doing well. Hopefully you had a good weekend. and you know you're not having a case of the Mondays enjoying life, enjoying work, join your family, and are happy and healthy.

But let's dive into something that's not necessarily happy and healthy. And that's what happened on Friday, a press conference with two Ivy League guys, Andrew Barry, Kevin Stefanski, and Deshawn Watson, who was finally traded from the Houston Texans, whatever, a while back. But they officially announced it. And my number one take was,

I don't know, I don't think there's necessarily rules saying that there's a date and a time that you have to do this. I don't know why they had a press conference. Because I saw a lot of people reacting that it's a disaster. I don't know how it wasn't going to be a disaster. Because, you know, there was only one thing the fans and, you know, were thinking that the media was going to ask. And here's the thing. And I, the media takes a lot of shit. And I think politically it's deserved because the media like pick sides.

like the politicians give a shit about them, where in these situations, the media members just independently are asking questions that every human being is thinking. There's not an agenda. There's just the elephant in the room. No one's on a team. If anything, they're anti the establishment.

And they're just asking normal questions about the accusers to the general manager and the head coach, why they did this, why they guaranteed so much money. literally what we're all thinking. And to me it was healthy. It was actually the most healthy press conference of like, you know, this is how the media used to be the majority of my life. It all walks of life.

When the media just represents being inquisitive, being curious, being what the fuck is going on here? And that's what was going on. But I was not shocked to see, one, they were going to be quote unquote defensive. They were going to say, they weren't going to be like, yeah, we don't actually know that much.

You know, we're taking a pretty big flyer here. They were going to say the PC line, which we believe we're making the right decision. We made educated guesses. We did all the research. You and I could have wrote out what they were going to say. Now, it's a tougher spot for Deshawn Watson, right? I'm not a legal analyst. I'm just a Cal Poly Grant.

If I ever got in legal trouble, luckily I've avoided that my up to 37 years old. I would have to get a lawyer because I got no clue what's going on. There are certain legalities. I said this all the time. If someone accuse me of sexual assault, rape, whatever the most heinous crimes are that can possibly be committed, pedophilia, you name it. There is no way under any circumstances I think I could listen to my lawyer if I was innocent to keep my mouth shut. I couldn't do it. I'm not wired like that.

I can't do it. But in defense of Sean Watson, every single lawyer, my entire life watching these cases, every one, listening to the same thing. They tell their clients, do not say shit. Keep your mouth shut. That is just the legal, you know, operation, the way these situations are treated. So he gets up there. He's not going to be able to say anything besides, I've never touched a woman. I've never broken law. This is, the truth's going to come out. I don't plan on settling. Kind of the same things that he essentially has been reiterating behind the scenes to these media members. the national guys over the years, over the last year, right?

So we didn't learn anything new. Two, one thing we know is like, one issue I had is Deshaun basically said he did not come to Cleveland for the money. Bullshit. Sometimes in life we need to call a spade a spade of spade. Like, ultimately this was a massive money grab for you and your age. There's nothing wrong with that. There's a private sector. You can try to make as much money as you can.

And ultimately you did, you got a historic contract. But do not look at everyone. If you're going to do this press conference, and we're all going to pay attention to what's being said and act like the money didn't matter. Because I still, for the life of me, I was talking to a buddy in the league over this weekend and I was like, you know what's crazy?

The craziest thing about this to me is he literally just got a pretty massive contract for the Houston Texans. And I just wonder, like, did he demand a trade strictly because he didn't want to be with the Houston Texans or because he was running away from these problems? And wasn't able to see the big picture like,

bro, just because you ask for a trade doesn't mean these problems aren't going to fall you, even if you were traded before this got out. And two, like, you weren't going to accept a trade on your previous contract, which was massive, paying you $35 million a year for years. It was all about the money. Why can't anyone just say that? Why are we so offended by it? Like, yeah, I did it for the money.

No shit. Like, I always get this like, oh, the capitalistic greed of the corporate greed. Yeah, corporations. They're trying to make money. That's their goal. like Elizabeth Warren. That's the way the private sector works. Their goal is to make as much profit as possible. They're not a school district here. They're not the government. Literally their job to their shareholders is to generate money. Just like all these people, every agent's job is to get their client in any industry, but I think the industries that are most famous for having agents, right, would be like Hollywood and pro sports, is to get their clients, especially football, which is a lot different than basketball, where the numbers are kind of.

a set in football, the difference between $10, $20 million guaranteed is a really big deal. But this was a huge money grab. And ultimately, they needed someone to capitulate. The Panthers, Dave Tepper, who has an unlimited amount of money, said, no, we're not paying you that much money. I heard Peter King on his podcast say that he talked to someone that was involved in these talks that are like, after seeing that contract, I'm glad we kind of were told you're not an option.

Because we were, in a million years, we never would have paid that. And like I've been saying over the last week for the Browns, I think it's insane that they did it. But it also speaks to the desperation to get a quarterback in your building. If it cost you $2 million. He got, you know, what, $70 million, $80 million more than Aaron Rogers. Aaron Rogers went back-to-back MVP. This guy hadn't played in a year.

He's going to get suspended and got $80 million more guaranteed. You know, Deshawn, it was just an absolute shit show. Props to the just, it was refreshing to just see the media doing their job. Which I really think, and listen, I'm not trying to just hammer on the media all the time, but it does feel like they've lost their way as a group a little bit. And that one was just like, yeah, this is old school. Tough questions need to be asked. This is a bizarre situation.

Let's sit down and ask some big boy questions. And they kept coming fast and furious. And, you know, they weren't going to have answers. And they didn't. And it was a bad look. And of course, you know, everyone's like, I can't believe that the owner wasn't there. Of course the owner wasn't there. You know, why?

These guys, Jimmy Hassel, stole from the truckers. You know, this guy, who do you think Jimmy Haslam is? Like, you think he was going to be there? Taking those bow and arrows? He later did it with his wife over Zoom. Like, what a cop out. Like, yeah, I mean, he's coward when it comes to this type of stuff.

Made his GM and the GM. And then he said that we made this acquisition because of the coach and the general manager. No way, Jimmy. You had to sign off. You're the guy writing the checks. Your name is on the bottom of every single dollar that comes out of here, you okayed the $230 million. That's you. So this is, you are responsible as well

as those two guys. I just hate how some of these things become so disingenuous, but that's just the world we live in. But God, I mean, this, what a wild situation. I mean, we have clarity, kind of. I mean, he's still fighting these cases and eventually, you know, I guess he'll get suspended, but, you know, we've still got a ways to go on that. Fan dual sports book NBA same game parlay. What is it? Gives you a chance to turn a small bet into a big payday. It's my favorite.

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And our family bonds grow too. Because when we disconnect from this and connect with this, we reconnect with each other. The forest is closer than you think. Find a forest near you and start exploring at Discovertheforest.org. Brought to you by the United States Forest Service and the Ad Council. Okay, another topic that I've seen is like these veteran players that haven't signed yet, just to name a few like the Honey Badger, Bobby Wagner, Julio Jones.

And I say it all the time. Money's all relative. at one point in time, $100 a lot to you. At one point in time, a $1,000 can be a lot, a $10,000, whatever the money is, right? Money, if you keep making more, you become less, you know, you get used to not just a certain lifestyle, but a certain amount of cash coming your way. And I think when you get to these guys levels, right, if you are used to making, let's just use real world terms.

Let's say you make, you know, 50, 60 grand, then you get a, a new job and it goes extremely well and you start making $150,000 for five straight years. And you live in the Midwest. You're crushing it. You're making a lot of cash and bonuses. You're making over $150 every single year. It would not be easy to just transition back to making $60,000. You would be used to making $150,000. Unless you're like some elite financial planner, your lifestyle would just change. It just would. It's human nature. You would upgrade a home. You might upgrade a car. You would just upgrade things. And you would be used to a new lifestyle. Now, the difference is these normal people wages, right, are a lot different that ultimately you can easily live on two or three million dollars. Right. But if you're getting

offered $2 million, let's say if you're the Honey Badger, Julio Jones, or Bobby Wagner, with incentive lace deals, I'm just picking that number. They could be getting offered way more. They've been used to making $12, $13 million. In Julio's case, $16, $17, $18 million. Bobby Wagner was scheduled to make $20 million. For the first time in their life, they've been told, I guess Honey Badger has been cut before, but Julio and Bobby Wagner,

up until, even last year, like Julio wanted out, they traded him. Bobby Wagner's played for one team his whole life. I was watching this thing on YouTube about Matt Ryan. And Matt Ryan had a really interesting perspective. He's like, you know, as a starting quarterback and obviously I'm making a lot of money, He didn't necessarily say that, but I was thinking that. I've always tried to be empathetic toward the players that get cut.

Every year, you see all the guys get cut at training camp. Every year, or just like every other year, you see guys, you know, historic players on our squad, like a Roddy White, right? Julio Jones gets traded. Tony Gonzalez retires. Like, the movement in the league is natural. It's always going to happen before I got here.

It's going to happen after I get here. But for the first time in my career, I was told, hey, if we get to Sean Watson, we're going to replace you. So before Matt Ryan, the whole trade thing happened, he was told by the Atlanta Falcons, if they get to Shaw Watson, they were going to replace him. And he's like, most guys get told that. I'm lucky enough that the first time anyone ever said that to me in my NFL career was year 14. And I think when you look at the Honey Badger, who's gone from team to team, been a team captain and been awesome now for the last three years on one of the best teams in the league, he's finding, you know, his market is not nearly what he thought.

Bobby Wagner, again, has been used to making huge money. Older player trending down. I bet it's a little humbling. Julio Jones has made enormous cash from the moment he was drafted in the top seven picks. He has never not been a highly compensated guy. And now probably teams are looking at him like, will you play for a million dollars and will incentivize it up to seven or eight? It's got to be a humbling feeling.

And again, money is all relative. Just put whatever that number would be for you. you know, whatever you're making now, quadruple that in your head. If you're making $100,000, think about making $400,000. And then think about making that for five or six years. And then imagine it's the great part about society, right, unless a recession hits or whatever. If you start doing a good job at a certain company and you start making a lot of money, you can maintain making that much money as long as that company doesn't go under and business keeps going well for a while.

With pro sports, it's very dependent on how you're playing. And obviously, age plays a huge role in that. And I think you see it every single year that the reason these quote unquote names wait a little while is because they're getting a little humble pie from a financial perspective. Like teams would want the Honey Badger. Teams would want Bobby Wagner at the right price. And for a large period of time, they were used to being paid a premium. And those premiums are no longer offered anymore. And that's just kind of the way the crooked crumbles in the businesses, the NFL, because 30 for a lot of these positions, right is viewed as old when you've been in the league eight, nine years,

which in normal people jobs, like 30, you got, you know, I'm 37. I don't even, my, I think my prime will be like in my 50s. You know, I'm not even sniffing it. But as a pro athlete, like the Honey Badger Bobby Wagner, that arrow's pointing down. I get asked, you know, just given that I have podcasts and, you know, I'm a, I don't even consider myself a public figure, but obviously people listen and because of this podcast, a lot of people listen, which is really cool. And I feel very fortunate to have Colin behind me and being able to do this.

Is I get a lot of questions. And because I promote DMs and my email address, like you, I get a lot of younger people in like college asking for advice, right? And a lot of it sometimes like how to become a scout or how do I get into podcasting or how do I get into sports? You know, pretty basic questions. But every once in a while, I get like, hey, I'm starting this podcast or I'm starting this.

How do we land some business? and the best advice I've ever gotten for either getting a job or trying to land a deal is to meet people in person. Right. And listen, when I first got into podcasting and had to get my own advertising, I dominated. And when I say dominated, I was just relentless on direct messages. I spent probably a couple hours a day in 2017 and 18 just DMing companies and emailing companies and emailing people, the CEO of companies on LinkedIn.

And that is great and you've got to do stuff like that. But the hit rate on that is very, very small. It was five years ago. It's even way smaller now. It's very, very difficult. It's essentially the new age of cold calling people, right? But there is nothing like getting in front of someone. You want to get some of the great stories about coaches standing in front of, you know, the head coach is like, if you want to get a job.

I remember Jed Fish told the famous story about getting hired by Steve Spurrier when he was assistant coach. or I mean, just a student at the University of Florida. Every single day, he would wait out in front of the guy's car. Every single day, he'd put a note in front of the guy's car. Eventually, Steve Spurrier's like, yeah, I'll give the guy a meeting. You can just wear people out when you show up at a certain business. I've done it here in the Bay Area with a local car dealership before. It ended up not working out, but we essentially had a business deal set and then something

changed and ultimately didn't affect. But the only reason I got it, because I just kept showing up. So when you want to get something, when you want to get hired by someone, when you want attempt to get someone's business, show up in person eventually. Now, you can start with an email, you can start with a DM, you can start with a LinkedIn message. But if you have the capabilities to show up in person, it is a game changer. Now, the person might not see you, show up the next day, that there is nothing like it. Because things get done, I don't care how powerful Zoom is, how powerful Google Beats is, how powerful FaceTime is. There is nothing like, still to this day,

even with as crazy as technology is, as being face to face with someone. It's the most powerful medium we have for doing business. I believe that to my core and I believe that's still true. It might not be true forever. Different generations, technology,

it might change. But today, especially people older than you in their 40s, 50s, and 60s who usually are doing the hiring, still is. So this week, the owner's meetings, right? It's why the combine is so powerful

for the NFL. All the general managers have the other general manager just phone numbers in their phone. They can text them, they can email them, they can FaceTime them at any moment's notice. But when you listen to John Schneider and George Payton

talk about why the deal got done, it's because every single day at the combine, they met. Every stinking day at the combine they met in secret, you know, under the ground locations, hotel rooms, shitty-ass restaurants that no one would be at.

They talked every single day. I haven't seen any stories, but I would be shocked if Tom Telesco and Ryan Poles, the Cleo-Mack trade, weren't meeting at the Combine multiple times in person. Because there's nothing more powerful than that.

That's why we see so many deals right after the Combine. Because you think all these guys have been talking on the phone and emails for weeks, but then once they get together, the game changes. And I think this week for guys

like Baker Mayfield, you know, Jimmy Garapolo, if conversations are going to happen, or at least be set maybe for the draft, it's going to happen this week. With the general managers and head coaches all being under the same roof because they don't really have that much to do.

And conversations are going to happen. I saw Rich Samini, he had a story about the Jets potentially trading for or trying to trade for. I don't think any of these guys are on the block. D.K. Metcalf, A.J. Brown, Debo, Samuel. If any of those guys end up getting traded, I would imagine the reason

the conversations will start this week. So, now who knows? Maybe we get to a lull now and the madness stops because it's going to be hard for the madness to continue forever at the rate in which it was going. But these people being around each other under the same roof, that will move the needle. Okay, there's a story out of the Charlotte Observer that's a newspaper in the South that covers the Carolina Panthers. I think they're a beat guy.

That the Carolina Panthers have three first round grades on quarterbacks. and when I saw this headline and then I looked, I went, that's a little weird. Because one, what team in their right mind on March 27th is telling anyone in the media what their draft grades are right now? How does that behoove them at all? And if that is true, that's insane to me. That to me is stupid. That doesn't make any sense. Now, the three quarterbacks, I think, are widely viewed as a three.

three most talented guys. There's a fourth too, but the three guys they had was Malik Willis, Kenny Pickett, and Matt Corral, the quarterback at Ole Miss. Some people might have Desmond Ritter in that class, but according to the Charlotte Observer, they had three quarterbacks. So to me, they're either lying to the newspaper to try to get this out there, try to get people off the scent, or this is where I do wonder if the owner is starting to get a little weird, starting to get a little tiresome, starting to get a little in-paste.

and he's yapping. Because I do think for years, we've seen like with Cleveland and some of these dysfunctional ownership groups is they can't help but keep their mouth shut because their team sucks. They feel they need to chart controlling the message. If David Tepper leaked this story, the Carolina Panthers are in major trouble for years to come.

Now, David Tepper as a businessman, he's one of the greatest stock traders in the history of the stock market. There's not even, I mean, he's on a short-level. behind like Steve Cohen, who owns the Mets now, Warren Buffett, like he's elite. He's an all-timer. But just because you're great at one thing doesn't mean you're going to be a great owner.

We've seen it over and over. Jimmy Haslam, great at stealing money from the truckers. Boom, owns the NFL team. It's been a debacle. Right? Shod Khan, everywhere he goes, every business, Prince Cash. The Jaguars are a complete joke. This guy, elite guy on Wall Street. The Panthers have been a disaster since he's owned the team.

and to me, if they're leaking this to lie to keep people off the scent, I don't know why they would. Like, what, are you going to pick Desmond Ritter number six? You don't want anyone to know that? That seems a little weird. That would be an all-time overdraft. This does reek of the owner, because this would not, if you're the GM of the Panthers,

you would not be telling anyone this right now. And if you're the Panthers head coach, unless you know you're going to get fired after the draft, but why would they fire you after the draft? It would make no sense. So to me, it's hard to feel either one of those two guys or the culprit. This has the owner written all over, if this is a true

story. And I could see the owner, this is this bad owner syndrome. Usually owners, when they first start and they pay a bunch of money for a team and things are not going well, they just can't help themselves. Because this guy on Wall Street running firms is used to being in full

complete control. He knows more than everyone else in his industry except like five guys. Yet in this thing, he knows nothing. He can't do anything. He feels like he's just a complete role player, even though he's cashing and signing all the checks. And he signs this sweet college coach he thinks who's been a disaster. They have no quarterback.

Right now it feels like they have no future. They're going nowhere fast. And if it is the owner leaking this, the Panthers are in major trouble for the foreseeable future. But we'll see if more leaks come out of Carolina. Something to keep an eye on. They're a franchise that could get weird fast. I got them red flagged big time.

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