The Herd with Colin Cowherd - 3 & Out - Albert Breer joins the podcast

Episode Date: February 28, 2024

John is in Indy and sits down with Albert Breer of The MMQB. John and Albert dive into the worst call he's ever gotten from a coach, GM, or owner based on something he reported, how he thinks Caleb Williams is going to do in the NFL and if there are any flags the Bears should be worried about, what will Washington do at number 2, and how surprising it is that Bill Belichick isn't in the NFL. 5:54 - Albert Breer Interview 7:46 - Worst call he's ever gotten 16:35 - Caleb Williams breakdown 22:09 - What will the Commanders do at number two 25:34 - What's going on in SF 37:32 - Marvin Harrison breakdown 49:10 - Belichick is out of the NFL Follow John on Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for the latest. Check out Gametime - the fastest growing ticketing app in the US, and the official ticketing app of 3 & Out and GoLow -  for tickets to all of your favorite NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA teams. Concert and comedy show tickets, too. Go to Gametime now to create an account, download the app and use code JOHN for $20 off your first purchase. #Volume #HerdSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Brett Veach is GM, Jason Light, who signed Tom Brady, won a Super Bowl, Howie Roseman, Big Dom, even makes an appearance. You might even be able to hear him on the podcast, definitely see him on the video. Did a lot of talking with Big Dom today. So it's been fun. On this podcast, though, today, Albert Breer, we had a long talk with Breer who I think knows every guy in the NFL, coach, GM, assistant coach. I swear to God, every time I looked, he was talking to someone. Dude is dialed in. So I wanted to get him talking about football and basically everything is going on in the combine.

So we'll have him for a long, long talk today. And who knows what tomorrow may bring? I'm obviously a little under the weather, but I battled. I even got an IV to my house a couple weeks or a couple days ago because I was like, I cannot be sick at this combine. And it helped out a little bit because I was struggling a couple days ago, but under no circumstances was, were we not going to make this happen? And we did make it happen in a big freaking way.

So it's a good 24 hours here for the volume and three and out podcast. But before we dive into everything, football, here's what I need you to do. Game time, download the app, who happens to be the official ticketing app of this podcast. Listen, college, pro, concerts, comedy shows. I asked Brett Veach, I said, what's your favorite Taylor Swift song? He's like, I haven't even met Taylor Swift yet. He never even answered the question, but everyone has a favorite Taylor Swift song. And if you want to go see Taylor Swift, just like if you want to go see anybody, you just look on game time.

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Number one ticketing app, not just on this podcast, but right now in America, they're the best. So download that game time app. And, yeah, so before we dive into Brewer, I'm telling you this combine,

it's just a unique NFL event where everyone's relaxed. You get coaches and GMs. I mean, I saw Howie Roseman. They just had like the worst end of the season humanly possibly. He's in a good mood. Andy Reed, Super Bowl champ, good mood.

Adam Peters, number two pick, good mood. Every guy. Even Brian Dayball, I saw him today, which I was ready to get yelled at. I was buckled up. I'm like, here, I'm going to take it. We're in the elevator together. And he just gave me a what's up. But I thought I was going to, even he was in a good mood.

Everyone's in a good mood here. It's the best. So let's dive into Albert Breer. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not only legal but encouraged. It's the enhanced games. Some call it grotesque. Others say it's unleashing human potential. Either way, the podcast's Superhuman documented it all,

embedded in the games and with the athletes for a full year. Within probably 10 days, I'd put on 10 pounds. I was having trouble stopping the muscle growth. Listen to Superhuman on the I-Hard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. A win is a win. A win is a win. I don't care what I'm saying.

Yep, that's me, Clifford Taylor the 4th. You might have seen the skits, the reactions, my journey from basketball to college football, or my career in sports media. Well, somewhere along the way, this platform became bigger than I ever imagined. And now I'm bringing all of that excitement to my brand new podcast, The Clifford Show. This is a place for raw, unfiltered conversations with some of your favorite athletes, creators, and voices that not only deserve to be heard, but celebrated. One week, I'll take you behind the scenes of the biggest moments in sports and entertainment.

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And for more behind the scenes, follow at Clifford and at TikTok Podcast Network on TikTok. Do you remember when Diana Ross double-tapped Little Kim's boobs at the VMAs? Or when Kanye said that George Bush didn't like black people. I know what you're thinking. What the hell does George Bush got to do with Little Kim? Well, you can find out on the Look Back at it podcast. I'm Sam J. And I'm Alex English.

Each episode, we pick a here, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it. Including a recent episode with Mark Lamont Hill, waxing all about crack in the 80s. To be clear, 84 is big to me, not just because. of crack. I'm down to talk about crack on day, but just so y'all know. I mean, at this point, Mark, this is the second episode where we've discussed crack.

So I'm starting to see that there's a through line. We also have AIDS on the table right now. Thank you finishing that sentence. Yes. I don't think there's a more important year for black people. Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history.

Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Here with, I don't even know what to call them. I mean, here's what I do know. This man, I would venture to guess every head coach, every GM in your cell phone, Albert Breer. Do you? Yeah, I'd say probably, yeah.

And former coaches, former GMs. I mean, how do you keep track of everybody? I mean, it's just building relationships over years. And I think it's as much as anything else. Like I always tell younger people, like, I always tell younger people, like, view all these as 30-year relationships. It doesn't mean you're not going to have bumps with people. Obviously, our jobs are going to, you know,

conflict with one another sometimes, like me and the football people. But, you know, it's just years of doing it. You know what I mean? Like, and it's getting to know people when they're young. And it's, you know, it's knowing Gerard Mayo when he was a player, knowing Kevin O'Connell when he was a player, knowing Sean McVeigh when he's a quality control assistant, knowing Kyle Shanahan when he was a receiver's coach.

And it's just you have enough of those. And you get to know them when they're younger and they come. It's just the number, the number is more manageable because it happens over time. I've told coward this and I'm not just saying this because you're sitting here. I think you give some of the best interviews because your knowledge, you know, a lot of people in your profession, which again, I don't even truly know what you consider yourself. But a lot of it gets agent-driven. I know you know agents, but like when you know the coaches and the GMs,

you can give the balanced perspective, which let's face it can be kind of, kind of rare sometimes. It's all coming from one side. And when you can mix it to, you kind of understand why something happens. Yeah. And I think like one of the, one of the keys when it comes to that is just making sure that there's always an open line of communication. Whoever wants to get a hold of you can get a hold of you. And I, you know, I'd be lying if I said, like, I don't deal with angry phone calls from people sometimes. But what's the angriest one you've ever gotten? I mean, Belichick ever call you? Yeah, I don't think it would have been Bill, though. I don't think Bill would have been the angriest.

Owner? I've had owners really pissed at me, yes. I've had league office people really pissed at me. I've had agents really pissed at me. I've had a coach who's really pissed at me. I've had a coach where, and sometimes it happens naturally too. I mean, like, you know, the end of the year, every year the last two, three weeks, it's like, okay, like there are this team and this team is making a change,

and you're sort of digging around, okay, is there a curb ball or a surprise coming here? And I remember it's probably three years ago, four years ago, where there was a curb ball comment where I was like, oh, like, whoa, I wasn't expecting that one. So I reached out to the coach or texted him something like, hey, I don't know if there's like a lot of validity to this, but just so you know that's what I heard, and he called me and MFed me and like, oh, like, that doesn't make any sense.

I don't know where you would hear that. He was really pissed. And I can understand where, you know, you're pissed at somebody almost you're not pissed at them, you're pissed at the information is like going around out there. And the guy didn't wind up getting fired. But I remember saying him a couple weeks later, I was like, wouldn't you rather have me come to you than just freaking put that out there? Yeah. And so there's a lot of that sort of stuff that you deal with that I think is, you just have to know how to deal with it. And I think another part of it too,

like, you see these people in person. Yeah, I mean, I see these people in person. I want to be accountable to them, you know, and I always want to make sure that whenever, I say something or do something that they think is off, that they have an open line of communication so they can get to me, that's going to help me be more accurate and me be more on base when I, and honestly, that's why the, all like the aggregation pisses me off. Yeah. Because it's like, I have to answer for myself.

Like, I don't want to answer for someone with someone like twists. You old school guys hate that, huh? Even though it's good for your business. I know I like the, I like the ones that, I like the ones that are accurate, right? Like I'm fine with if you're at because you're promoting my content. It's when it's when I go on like a show and give an opinion and then someone turns it into a report. Yeah. Which is like it's just that type of stuff.

You're on with Colin talking about fields. Fields traded. You're like, yeah. Well, now it's yeah. And it's like they're misconstruing what you're saying to try to get engagement, which is all that they care about. And like so now all of a sudden it's Breer said this. And it's like, well, I didn't say that.

So now I have to answer for something I didn't even say. And so that's the stuff that can get a little frustrating because in general there's this vacuum for information out there. And everybody, all these people want to continuously fill it. And sometimes there's not a lot of information out there. And so they'll take something someone says to fill the vacuum. And yeah, so I didn't want to turn this into a grievance session or anything else. But yeah, like that's what you deal with sometimes. It's like, and I do think like it's, I mean, look, like I, I think it's, I think it's important that you are able to handle those, those conversations with people.

And I always try to give it. You got to take it. Yeah. And I always think, okay, one thing like that a lot of people in our business can learn is empathy. And like, I always try to like understand what the guy on the other side of the table, what his job is. Right. So whether it's a head coach, an assistant coach, a GM, a scout, an agent, whoever it is, like, I always try to have a good handle on how everybody's going to react to what I'm, what I'm reporting. Sometimes it has to be reported regardless. But, like, I think it's important to understand, like, hey, like, this is why this person couldn't give me this information or this is why this person had to be guarded. And I always tell them, I'm like, don't be afraid to say to me. Like, if you can't help me on something or there's, don't be afraid to say it to me.

I'd rather have you do that than, like, mislead to me or lie to me. Like, like, if you can't give me the information, you just fucking tell me, it's fine. You know what I mean? So I think that's like an important part of like the way I do my job too is just trying to be empathetic and understanding other people's jobs. Well, I saw you talking to GM's coaches. You think you've already been lied to today? I make it my goal to be lied to less and less every year. I'll put it that way.

But I think a big part of that is like will guy just blatantly lie to you? No, I like I honestly don't think that happens that often. I know like so like during the draft for example, right? So people think like, oh yeah, like, well, why would that person tell you who they're picking? They don't. A lot of times what I'm doing is I'm basically creating like an aggregate of all the information that I'm building up. And it's, okay, so this team is picking fifth. So it's their job to know what the team at two and three and four are doing.

So they're digging for that. And so if I call the team at five and six and seven and they're all saying the same thing about, what the team of three might do. I might say, well, there's a lot of noise out there that this team might do that. I'm not like going to these teams and saying, who are you picking? I know what sort of answer that's going to get. And so I think a lot of it's just understanding like, you know, again, like what they can and can't answer. It's not that you're not going to ask the question, but like, you're having the sorts of relationships with people too

where they know you're not going to burn them is really important and not getting lied to. So I don't know. I think most of the people I talk to are generally pretty honest with me. And this whole idea that, you know, like the character stuff kills me too. Because like this time of year, it's like, you know, it's like these teams aren't lying to knock someone down the board. No. Like, and I, and I, and it can be so disingenuous to that stuff. This is their job.

And then it comes up a couple years later. It's like, we didn't know this. No, they told you. That's why I hate the word leak. I agree. So I had the S2 scores last year. And I had all of them. And I got them because there are people I have.

relationships with and it was good context. And look, I made the decision. I'm not criticizing anybody else's decision. I made the decision to put a couple of them out there, but only a couple of them because I didn't think it was fair to some of the kids that, hey, like, here's a really low score. C.J. Not one of them then?

CJ was one of them. I had C.J. score. And so, I'm saying, did you put his out? No, I put Bryce Young's out and Will Levis is out. Both of them scored really high. I think I think Bryce had like a 98 and Levis had like a 93 or something like that. on whatever the scale is. Purting was like 150.

Yeah. And I, like, I put those out there because I thought, like, this is a good context and it's not hurting the kid. And so, you know, but I didn't get those scores because someone leaked them to me. I got those scores through reporting and through relationships. It's like there's this perception. And you'll see reporters do it. They'll call it a leak when it's not their reporting, but they'll never call it a leak when it's their reporting. You know what I mean?

Like, so a lot of times that stuff you get it, through good reporting, through your network of people that you talk to, that you trust. And yeah, I mean, there's a lot of that stuff that's just, again, like those, like all of its factor. I mean, you know,

they say you're trying to kill a kid. If, you know, you're saying, hey, like, there's a character issue here. He might fall. Well, that's relevant to their draft stock, which is what we're covering, right? So I go back to 2020. It's like, Damon Arnett.

There were a ton of character flags on Damon Arnett. Because he's arrested with meth? Yeah. And he's been out of the league for, couple years. That was a bad pick. I mean, is this for me, John? How often, when you hear a guy, there's a character issue with a guy coming out, how often is it

correct? Almost always. I would say 99, and sometimes character, obviously, it's like, there's questions with Caleb. It doesn't mean he's a bad character guy, they're just questions, and then there are the Damon, guys that have been legitimate trouble. There's different levels of it. But the NFL people just use the word character to kind of sum up everything off

the field. These are seven-figure decisions. For sure. You know, so you're going to depend on these guys to win. Why would you? wouldn't you want to know that? You'd 100% want to know that. Like, I mean, you know, Caleb, as I've dug around Caleb, it's like, okay, like, so, like, the dad's an issue. Like, I mean, and the dad's something you have to sort through.

But, like, as I kind of continue to dig into it, you know, it's like his teammates love him and his coaches love him. And that's going to, and I know, like, that's important relevant, that's important, relevant information too, because that's going to go a long way with the NFL teams. And, I mean, ultimately, it's. probably only going to matter to one, you know, in the end, because he's probably not going to be on the board for more than one pick. But, yeah, I mean, like, that stuff's always, that stuff always matters. Let's talk about him. I saw you, you know, Ryan Poles making the rounds.

It's probably one of the biggest stories in the NFL. Just your overall take on where that stands with everything. Yeah, so I think we've gotten to the point with Caleb Williams where I sort of view it like in 12 and 21. And, you know, to kind of, to rewind a little bit, like, going back to the summer, I make calls on all these guys, right? And going into the season, I'll do a, you know, like, hey, here, eight or 10 or 12 quarterbacks to look at. I think it's a really good, it's a good exercise for me to do. You always get quotes from scouts and guys.

Yeah, and I'll go to, like, Trent Dilfer and to Jordan Palmer, some of these guys who've been around them since they were teenagers. And it's a good exercise for me because it kind of, like, it gets me ahead a little bit, like, and then I have an idea of what I'm going to be looking for in the college season when I want to sit down and watch a college game. Like, I might make a point. this year I might have made a point to watch North Carolina again. Yeah, I did.

You know what I mean? So you may, so knowing that stuff's important, or even like further down in Tulane, like who had Michael Pratt. So, um, the stuff I heard in the summer was generational. Like that Lway, Manning, Lawrence Luck, now not

saying he's going to get there, but that tier of prospect, like Caleb's on that tier. And, um, I think it was either Trent or Jordan said to me, one of them said to me on the record, I can't wait for, everybody start tearing this kid down. Well, it's natural. I can't wait for any. And he's like, it's going to happen.

And I remember in 12 covering luck and how luck was seen as just, every NFL player evaluator you talk to is like, this kid is just about a perfect quarterback prospect. Right? And yet, there's two months between the combine and the draft. Arms strength, you know. So what happens? By the end of it, it was like, oh, Robert Griffin's like basically even,

the teams didn't see it that way. There's never any question to the courts were taken. The same thing happened, with Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson. It's like, whoa, like, look at Zach Wilson's Pro Day. And it, so I think the same thing is sort of happening now. And I think the same thing will continue to happen over the next couple of months. But I think the biggest questions Caleb have to answer is about what's around him. Does that include like no agent and all that stuff?

Yeah, I mean, I think that that, so that matters, but only because the dad is perceived as a question guy. So it's like, okay, so you have the dad who some people think has been overbe. bearing or playing it like this huge role. And I don't know the dad, so I, fair or not. I know people in Oklahoma, they thought, but he was an 18 year old kid. Fair or not. That's out there, right? So, you have all of that.

And then it's really easy to take that and say, okay, so the dad who's really involved and now no agent, like, does that, you add the two together. So that's what teams have to dig through with him. You know, it's like, all right, like, how big a figure is the dad going to be when he gets here is, like,

all the extra stuff, is that coming with him. But, like, what you do here, and, you know, I know a couple of guys who coached at SC and all of that, like, the coaches love them, the players love them, and that's the stuff that usually overrides everything. Like, Mahomes has a lot going on around him, but he has such a good job of compartmentalizing it. You know what I mean? Like, incredible. And so I think the hope is, like, where you want to get to, I think with Caleb, where these teams are trying to get to with Caleb is a point where it's like, okay, like, yeah, like, there's stuff, but he's compartmentalized it.

I think when we use Mahomes as an example, Coach Reid was here earlier. He's pretty unique. You know, it's like having parents that are very stable. So every time Mahomes comes to the facility, it's a very stable place. Where some of these guys, they've got a lot going on outside. Look at Caleb this year. The team was all over the map.

So it can kind of be overwhelming. You're young. Money, the fame. To me, the question with Caleb is just, and the big picture, they're going to leave here, I'm sure, with standing offers for the pick, for Justin Fields. and then like they know that they can just draft them. But they're going to have a lot going on.

Yep. For Ryan to make a decision, which you could argue they may be have already made. Yeah, I mean, I don't think it doesn't, it doesn't serve Ryan or the Bears to come here and tell them they've made up their mind. I'm sure talking to everyone about everyone. It serves the Bears to have an idea of what they're going to do because they are so deep in the process. They've done a ton of background work on Caleb Williams. They know now they'll have to sit down with him here and go through that part of the process and all that different. stuff, but I mean, you worked in this.

90% of the work is done. And they, so it'd be silly not to think that they have it in the back, they have the plan. Here's probably what we're going to do. And what do you think that is? I think it's to draft Caleb and trade Justin probably. I

think, can I make sure, I think that's what it is. I don't know. So would that trade probably happened before March 11? Yeah, and I think that that's, and that's something like that Ryan was actually pretty up front with the Chicago media about today. I saw that. He said something along the lines of. And that makes sense because you trade them before free agency. It's the best

for the kid, obviously, because he gets closure, but it's also the best for the team, because that's when you're going to have your most suitors. Like, a month from now, six weeks from now, there are going to be fewer teams of the quarterback need than there are right now. So, when does it make sense to trade the guy when you have the most suitors, which is, right now?

So, you know, I think that they wind up trading him maybe for a day two pick and a day three pick, and you know, like, and then I think they, I think, you know, Caleb's the guy. And that's, again, like, that's my own feeling on it. But it doesn't serve Ryan Poles to sit here and say to the world we've made up our mind. It serves him to say, we still don't know what we're going to do for sure. So everybody comes to him and he has a full

view of everything. And so he has a full view of what teams are willing to offer for the number one pick. He also has a full view of what teams are willing to give him for Justin Fields. You know, let's talk about the number two team, Washington. I've known Adam since I was a graduate with a assistant at Fresno State. He's just, he's a pretty unique guy because he's been a part of all these teams, but he's kind of low key. Yeah, he is. You know, he's not some big frontrunner media guy that way, even though it kind of looks like it with a show hair. I don't know Dan Quinn, watch him from outside clearly his positive energy and when he gets the right coordinator, which are just initial thoughts on that pairing and just where they stand, given what they've gone through for a long time.

Yeah, I mean, look, like, there's a lot of, like, common connections. And I talk to, I talked to, you know, a couple of people there about AP, like he did a lot of like work on DQ going through the people in San Francisco. You'll remember a lot of those guys were on the staff in Atlanta. Yeah, Kyle and all his buddies. Quinn, yeah.

So Kyle and Michael Fleur was in Atlanta and you know, Mike McDaniel, who he can go to was in Atlanta. And like, so they all worked for DQ and had the context of who he is as a head coach. And so that's a big part of it. I also think, you know, I always said this.

about like, you know, I feel like Quinn's name in the public sphere kind of cooled off a little bit. And people would ask me and I said, like, go ask Micah Parsons. Like, that's, that, that, he'll tell you what you need to know. And he was able to adjust his scheme and get the most out of Michael Parsons. That's what, that's what coaching is. Like, he was so. How about the DBEs? Got more out of Trayvon Diggs.

Like, what happened with Bland? Like, to have Duran Bland ready to roll the way they did, to get more out of Stefan Gilmore in the back end of his career, Malik Hooker was another one that they completely resurrected. DeMarcus Lawrence continues to be productive. Their defensive tackles were really good. So, you know, I just think, like,

the idea with DQ... He was probably the highest-paid coordinator in the league last year, wasn't he? Yeah, and you're hiring a guy who has... You're hiring a guy who has... I don't know if he's making what Vic was making in Miami. A lot of coin both of them. Yeah, but I do think, like, there's a...

you know like i think on one hand he's going to create an incredible culture which he did in Atlanta and which he was part of building on the defensive side of the ball in Dallas and then there's such an emphasis in the way he does things on getting the most out of people and i would tell anybody to go back and look at those Atlanta teams and how many guys had career years when quinn was there like now some of them are the prime of their careers matt ryan won an MVP Julio jones was the best receiver in football um the offensive line played well with jake matthews at left tackle you know Dion jones was a top of the league middle line back. That little running back they had was a stud.

Right. Both of Coleman and Foreman were both really good players. I think you can see, I think that's one thing you can see consistently with Quinn is he's maximizing guys. And so I think that part of it's going to be really interesting to watch how they build the team up. And, you know, Adam's, I mean, you know, Adam. Stuck. Yeah, I mean, like this is a long time coming and he's deserved his shot for a long time. and I think the personality mesh is going to be really good. And yeah, man, like, I'm excited to see what they do it too

because I think it could be a really good incubator for a quarterback. You know, I've gone to a lot of 49er practices over the years, and it's like they've lost a lot of coaches now. And now Adam, and you never saw a picture of John Lynch the last seven years without Adam standing right next to him. Kyle just lost a bunch of other guys again. This year he's still trying to find a defensive coordinator. Just dots on their situation.

You know, Steve Wilkes, I think he was gone, win or lose that game. I think he was like, I had, so I had somebody text me who's worked for Kyle at the end of the Super Bowl. Like, I don't know. It was like maybe three minutes after this. Texted me, Wilkes is fired after the timeout. The time out were. Have you ever seen an offensive coach do that to a defense coach? He's the head coach, offensive coordinator, and he calls the timeout for the defensive coach,

not because they were running out of time or whatever because he hated the look. Yeah. And there was funky stuff where it was like, I hadn't gone back and looked at it, but somebody said like zero blitz with the corners playing seven yards off the line on third and five. It was like stuff like that where it was just like, and I think, I think it's reflective of like Kyle's frustration where the defense really, the numbers look good. But you and I both know they underachieved. It was not the same. They underachieved on defense this year.

So there's that and the amount they've got invested in guys like Nick Bosa and Eric Armstead and Fred Warner obviously and Chavarious Ward. So it's that. It's not getting the most of those guys. It's also paying Hargrave a lot of money. Yeah. And I think it's, I think the other thing is like it's like, you know, you have like it's just you have like a system that's brought so many guys up from the grassroots level. And like Sala was one of theirs. And D'Amico is one of theirs. And then you look on offense and, you know, Mike McDaniel is there's no guy who's spent more time with Kyle Shanahan over the last. 20 years than Mike McDaniel has. And underneath him was Michael LeFleur.

Even Kubiak came in. He was babysitting Kubiak 20 years ago. So many. So I thought the Wilkes hire was interesting when it happened because it was outside of Kyle's comfort zone. And you do wonder to some degree was like, was Kyle never going to get there with Steve Wilkes? Probably not. I mean, like, and I just think that might have been part of it. One guy got there with pretty quickly is the quarterback. Yeah. And I know a lot of people have talked about this. The way the Chiefs talked about Brock.

Yeah, I can tell you spags right after the game. He told Shrager that he tracked down his number and reached out to him. And he spoke about him when I had him on. You think he kind of gets a raw deal. Everyone just wants to talk shit about it. He's like one of the most incredible stories in the history. Let me ask this, John. Would we be talking differently about him if he was the 20th pick in the draft?

If Trey Lance had done what he was doing, we'd be talking about him like one of the great prospects and hits of all time. We were watching the Super Bowl thing the other night, me and my girlfriend, and she was like, you know, going through Tom Brady's start. She's like, oh, it's kind of like Purdy's, a late round pick. I'm like, well, the difference, Maria is he won the Super Bowl, but then I started thinking, like, there actually are some similarities there. I'm trying to find the quote, but like, yeah, there are. He just didn't win. Now, if you had won the Super Bowl, that changes his life. So, I mean, Purdy was doing more.

I had a, you know, I had a, you know, I had a, I had a great conversation with Brock over the summer. And it was like, what struck me about him was that he wasn't sore about falling in the draft. Like, Brady was sore about falling in the draft. Rogers was sore about falling in the draft. Like, Purdy was like, no, I understood it. And then he was like, and I fixed all of these different things as a result of it. So, like, I actually wound up way better for having gone through that. And he just had such a mature attitude about it.

Well, he's a serious cat. Yeah. And I, so a couple of other things that, like, I can just tell you anecdotally, like, you know, So during my training camp trip, I was with, you know, an old friend of Kyle's, and he said, you understand Kyle loves Brock, right? Is this two years ago or this year? No, this was this summer? You understand Kyle loves Brock, right?

And I'm like, oh, yeah, yeah, no, no, no, no, he loves Brock. So what do you mean? He goes, I can tell by the way he's calling plays for him how much he thinks of him. It is totally different than it was. And so, you know, like, whatever it was, a few days later, I'm at the Niners, and I asked Kyle, about it. I said, like, so one of your friends told me this. He, like, smiles, he goes, absolutely.

And he was so open about it. You know what I mean? Like, that he was calling plays differently for Brock than he had for the quarterbacks he had before in San Francisco. So I think that there's that. And then I would just say the same thing. I know Schrager had the thing. After the game, I had Spags in the locker room.

And unsolicited, he was like, Brock Purdy is really good. We had to adjust what we were doing. And he said, like, they were mixing coverage. just a lot early in the game. And he said, Brock was so good at IDing what we were doing and he was ripping our zones apart. He's like,

that's why we went, man. He's like, because we could not handle Brock Purdy. And it sounds weird saying that because he's seen as the game manager and everything else, but it's like, the reason we change what we were doing from a coverage standpoint is because Brock Purdy forced us to. And that's for people who don't know, that's a pretty high

compliment for a quarterback. Big time. When you look at these teams that lose Super Bowls, like the Chiefs got their ass kicked by Tampa, but it was understandable. The two tackles were out, and then they'd come back and they won a couple cents. Brady lost them, they'd come back and win them. Forty-niners now, they got two Super Bowls. They had the lead in both of them against a couple legends, and it's like, how many more times are you going to get this opportunity? Yeah. I mean, they're so talented, but there's a, there's also, like a... The lions are coming. They didn't lose anybody. And it's, and it's, and it's,

like, so, it's interesting, like, the way the models are so different. Like, the model that the Niners in is diametrically opposed to the chiefs, where the chiefs have all their money spent the quarterback. The Niners tried it backfired in their face. Right. So they have all their money spent on the quarterback and then like you look at the rest of the roster and their defense is littered with guys on rookie contracts. Really really good. And Brett Beech has done a great job

stocking that roster. Putting Creed Humphrey and Tray Smith on the offensive line. So the Chiefs have done a really nice job but if you look at it it's like all right like what's sustaining this is the quarterback. The Niners is obviously the opposite of that

where it's like all right we're going to be so loaded around the quarterback and that doesn't have the 10 year 15 year shelf life that building around the quarterback does so can Brock elevate into becoming that kind of guy where if you pay him 50 55 60 whatever the dollar amount is a year from now can you build around him with that constraint and that's what's hard about it but the Niners it's I mean look like they have a lot of players that are really expensive and I thought this was the most incredible thing so I do every Every year I do this breakdown of the rosters, right? And I do highest cap number, last five first round picks, how they got their quarterback.

I do that every year with the final four teams, right? You know what the Niners' highest cap number was last year? Probably Trent Williams. Yeah. You know what the number was? I would guess in the low 20s. 12 and a half. Yeah.

What does that tell you? Well, Prague. Friend of the show a long time ago. Genius. Yeah. But they're pushing a lot back. But they're pushing a lot back, and eventually the bill's going to come do on that. The Saints dealt it with that.

Yeah, I mean, so the high, so they had, I looked at a hard rate, $80 million in his cap numbers like three. They had nine players making $15 million a year or more on their roster, and no one with a cap number over 12.5. That's crazy. So, like, what that tells you is eventually that's going to come do. And so I think that's where the clock is ticking. And then I think the question becomes, do you ride it out with this group and then hit like a hard reset. two or three years, or do you gradually start to work guys off the roster and do it that way? Like the Chiefs.

Right. So the Rams hit the hard reset this year. Niners aren't going to do a hard reset. Right. And so the Rams hit a hard reset, and they made the playoffs. Right. But the Rams were able to do it because they hit on Pukukua and Kobe Turner and Byron Young. And like they were able to, they were able to get a lot of like affordable talent on their roster,

even though they were carrying, I think it was $75 million in dead money. That's crazy. Which is like a, I mean, a real. credit to the Rams program. Well, I think the Niners are one of the lowest at seven with dead money, and five of that was T. Lent. Right. Right. So you look at this, like, the next couple weeks, T. Higgins and Iyuk are two guys that, you know, one's franchise, the other essentially is. Yeah. But it's like, those teams aren't going to trade the guy for nothing, but it's like, would I trade, pick 20 when I can draft a guy at a cheap number? Like, are those, you think that

one of those two guys get traded? To me, I think Iyuk is, Iuke makes sense just because. To get traded? Yeah. Because. to me it's like sort of similar to de Forrest Buckner right like so the Niners made the decision a couple years ago yeah we can't afford to have both Eric Armstead and DeForest Buckner it's going to be easier to resign Armstead so we'll re-sign Armstead so we're cheaper too yeah he's cheaper yeah he's like a few million dollars a year cheaper and um we hate to and they hated letting go I know they loved him they love Buck like right like but they made the decision we just can't afford to have both and if you look at the roster like the really expensive guys in that roster right so like you you can go down the line.

Nick Bosa, obviously, Fred Warner, Eric Armstead, Javan Hargrave, Javarrius Ward. Debo Kittle. I mean, you got a lot of guys. So I think what you have to do is you have to look for the surplus. Like the surplus was the interior defensive line a couple years ago, right, when they trade bucks. So where is there a surplus right now?

Receiver in a skill position spot. Here's the thing, though. You make that trade, like Veets traded Tyreek, and then he got McDuffie and Carlisks right away. Right. With, you know, with that pick you got McDuffie. The Niners made that trade. Tristan Worf sitting right.

right there. They trade back and they get Kinla. So yeah, you could make the trade and the fight. You're like, damn, they got the 18th pick for IUC. That sounds sweet. And then you got to make, they trade AJ Brown for pick 17 and they took the dude from Arkansas. Traylon Burks. Yeah. But if they take Justin Jefferson, no one's talking about it. Yeah. So when you make the right, the pressure on that pick then doubles. Well, the pressure's on them to make the picks anyway. They do the best work in the fourth round. Yeah, and even if you stick to, like, so even if you're, you know, like, even if you decide

we're sticking with the core and we're pushing it for, you're, you're, you're still going to have to have a lot of, like, affordable talent in your loss. The Rams. The two talents through the draft. And that's where it's going to come from. And that's, again, like,

that's where the Rams have done great work, too, in the middle rounds. And, like, so it's, again, Kobe Turner. It's, it's Byron Young. It's Puka Nakua.

It's, you know, Steve Avila. It's like going and getting guys that are going to play important roles for you where you're spending 800 grand instead of $7 million. More Brock Purdy's.

Yeah. 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.

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

Really? Yeah. For me, it's one of the most important years for black people in American history. Listen to look back at it on the IHeart Radio app, Apple. podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. You think it's crazy that, like, Coach Reid's here, but McVeigh, Shanahan, McCarthy, Sala, like, in five more years or half the coaches is not going to show up to this? And why do you think that is?

Well, I think it's like they do feel like they get more done at home. I also think, you know what, honestly? Gossip nature? Yeah, I think it's also, like, so I miss, like, when this was a little bit more toned down. I do think all of this, like, look around, right? It's gotten kind of crazy. There's a radio row at the combine. Yeah, all of this, like, I just think it's like, I think part of it is like football people

pushing back. Like, I don't need to be a part of that dog and pony show. If this was just football people, I think they would go. Yeah. But it's just, it's, there's so much of it. It's like, why do I want to go there where I'm going to have to do fucking, sorry, seven, no, we fucking say whatever I want. Okay, cool, cool.

When I have to spend seven or eight hours doing content, right, whether there's a press conference or sitting in a podcast or it's sitting on like why do I want to why to promote the league know I'm going to stay home that's why I think the Marvin Harrison decision is so interesting what was the final because I saw some different reports is he showing up he's going to be here okay he's coming but he's not doing anything he's not been meeting you know he'll meet me he'll meet with teams he'll meet with the media he's not going to do any of the physical testing and my understanding is he's not going to do it as pro day either and he's going to

he's he's he's he's he's he's why do I have to run a 40. Why do I have to run a three cone drill? Why do I have to? And like you think about it and it's like well yeah, like he doesn't need to. Like the only thing he can really do is hurt himself, right? Like so, I mean, Is he a lock though to be the number one wide receiver?

I think he is. I know some people like neighbors, some people like a Duns Aane. Both those guys, I think it'll be top 10 in a year. I think both those guys are really good. I do think like Marv is a little different. Yeah, Marv is a little different. But he's not like physically Julio. But his

character is his character is excellent and I think he actually like so the Ohio state people would tell you he can run like four threes which if you watch he's a long strider he's kind of like he's got that like I'm not comparing is the cop his dad no the cop was so the funny thing about him is and I remember I think was Brian Hartline telling me this how if you look at his body he's very low cut so he has like a really long torso So his legs are like the size of his dad's. So he can move like his dad does. Dad did because he does have a lower center of gravity,

but he's a long torso. So he's like 6.3, 6.4. So he can pluck balls out. Yeah. So he's got this combination of the movement his dad had with size his dad didn't have. And yeah, I mean, I think he's going to be excellent. And anyway, so the decision. And most people do.

I'm not saying that. Yeah, the decision he's making is smart because it's all right, Like, so, you know, I'll never forget this. Like, so my first year covering the league, my first full year, I covered the Patriots in 05, I jumped on the beat at the beginning of the regular season. So my first spring was 06. The Patriots drafted this offensive tackle out of like Oklahoma State, right? And you know about Dante Scarnackia?

Yeah, my uncle's roommate back in Taft Junior College. Oh, is that right? Yeah. Yeah, he's an M.F. I have a nephew named after named Dante. Great, great guy, but he's tough as all hell. Old school. And so I remember, like, this, we were in the field house in Foxborough,

and I remember this tackle he drafted, like going over the corner spending a second half of practice just puking his guts out, right? Dante's like 5'7. Yeah. And we talked to the kid after, and I remember him saying like, oh, yeah, like, I was, I'm not in football shape. Well, what do you mean? Like, well, I've been training for a track meet for the last, for, I was trained for a track meet for three months.

Then I went on a banquet tour. And what Marvin is basically, Marvin is basically, Marvin's bet is the most beneficial thing to me is stay ready is is training for football and so he's working with the Ohio State strength coaches and other staff there's getting ready for his rookie year so when he gets out there for rookie minicamp you don't got to get him back in shape he's ready to roll

and so when the oh when he jumps in with the vets at OTAs you want to bet that he's going to like be on the first team like that because he's ready to go so not a lot of guys have the leverage to do that but he does, and he's prioritizing his rookie year over where he's going to get picked, because where he's going to get picked, there isn't a lot of variance there. And so I do wonder if, like, we see more and more of this, because they are business decisions. With the top guys for sure. Yeah, the top guy.

Like, now, not many people have leverage to do it, but. Caleb's not throwing, right? Well, so that was the other thing I was going to bring up. Look at the quarterback. So there's news out there that there are three quarterbacks that are throwing and three quarterbacks in art. I'll give you the names, okay? Caleb Williams, J.J. McCarthy, Jaden Daniels, Michael Pennix, Bo Nix, and Drake May. Which three do you think aren't throwing?

Are not? Yeah. Well, Caleb's not. I would say, I know Knicks and Pennix, because I saw the headline are, so May and Jayden Daniels not throwing. Right. How did you get there? Well, most people think they're the top three guys.

Yeah. So the top three guys have somebody to prove. The top three guys have more to lose by throwing. next three guys have probably more to gain. I think that's a little overrated, though. I mean, you know what I'm saying, though. And I do think, but I just tell him that. But I do think there is an element of, I mean, these have always been business decisions. Is Jaden working out? Like, if he's fast, he should run. I also said that with Lamar Jackson. Fast guys run. And if Lamar runs a four-three, he doesn't go 32, no chance.

Well, with Lamar, I think, oh, Lamar was a little different. I know. But you know what I mean? I don't want to be seen as that. But you know what I mean? You put that number up there. These coaches are like, holy, I don't know what Jay would run. I mean, he runs 4-4-8. 4-4, yeah. Like, I think, like, what I'd heard from teams was using the 4-4s. It's good. Which is great, yeah.

And maybe he should. And maybe he should run at LSU. Maybe he shouldn't run here. Maybe he should run at LSU. I just think, like, all these guys, and again, like, I'm not arguing what's right for each individual guy. What I do think is, like, inarguable is that these guys increasingly are approaching these things as business decisions. For sure. As they should.

And it's different now, I think. think because these guys are able to make business decisions when they're 18, 19, 20 years old. So it's not like they get dropped into the draft process in January. And all of a sudden it's like, oh, my God, what do I do? You know what I mean? They've been through it. They've had to make business decisions already. And because of that, they're probably viewing their career as a commodity more than guys

five or 10 years ago were, you know, and like you protect that commodity. And how do you protect that commodity best? okay well like I'm going to look if I'm trying to protect that commodity I'm going to look at the cost benefit analysis of running a 40 or of doing a three cone drill or of getting on the bench or and for some guys the thing that makes the most sense is to go and do those things for other guys it isn't how full what what's Marvin's floor five in the draft yeah I would say seven or eight just because quarterbacks and some other positions maybe an offensive line you know there's a another position could push him down and if a wide receiver goes above him but

Yeah, but if he were to, if he were to, like, slip on the track here, right? Oh, yeah. He was a slip on the 40 and, like, all of a sudden he busts, like, runs 4-5 or something. Oh, well, what now? And then he's got to spend the next three weeks training for his pro day because he's got to do it over again, right? Honestly, it doesn't bother me when those type guys make the decision. Yeah, I mean, he's just better, like, and he's, and he's setting himself up for his rookie year. Yeah.

Which I think if you are the Cardinals at four, the charges at five, whoever's going to take him, you're ecstatic he's doing that. For sure. That means you're going to be able to freaking hit the ground running with the guy. I want to get two more things. I don't want to keep you forever. Because you're Ohio State guy. You know the Michigan program well, and let's talk about Harbaugh.

Yep. You know, one of his great advantages is going to, I mean, he's got 18 fucking guys here, which I thought that LSU team is one of the greatest teams I've ever seen. And they were sexier because they scored. They had 16 with Burrow. Yeah. So 18 sets a record. His advantage for these next couple years of knowing

the draft is going to be massive. Well, it's not just the guys he had. It's also guys he recruited. That's what I'm saying. The entire country. I mean, the story's of Pete Carroll, and you look at like the first three years, Pete Carroll was in, was in Seattle, was unbelievable. I mean, like, you know, you hear the Richard Sherman story where he recruited him out of,

was of Compton. Out of Long Beach Polly, right? I think it was. I don't know if he went to high school. He's from Compton. I don't know where he went to high school. So either way, like they, but Pete Carroll, like, knew the kids' background back and fourth.

You 100% of it. So he gets him in the fifth round. You know, like he... And they both had mutual hatred toward Jim. If you remember, like, Taylor Mays was coming out that first year. He drafted Earl Thomas in front of him. Why? Because he knows.

He knows. And he coached against Earl. Maybe he didn't coach against Earl Thomas. That was probably too far back. But I'm sure he crossed paths with him at some point, you know? And so, yeah, like that institution... Trading for Marshaun. He played against him in the Pac-12.

Yeah. all that institutional knowledge was really freaking valuable. I think Jim Harbaugh had that in San Francisco too to some of the people. You know, like some of the guys they drafted there. So the combination of Jim Harbaugh and then Joe Ortiz, who I don't know how well you know Joe, but Joe. I just met him today. Yeah.

So like, he is, he is phenomenal, like kind of like old school scout, like a scout scout, you know. How often are the Ravens guy is not good? And I think he's going to mesh so well because he worked with John and he built a relationship with Jim going on school calls there. So I think the Chargers could be real. I mean, like, I think Greg Roman hit the nail on the head

where he said something like, it was something along the lines of like, can you imagine Justin Herbert with a great running game? And imagine if Justin Herbert's second and five and third and two constantly. I know they got cap issues, but could you see them sniffing around Jacobs or Sequin Barclay or they're not going to pay?

I don't know. That'd be fun just because if you look at like what Jim was able to do for Frank Gore. Oh my God. And Frank was deep into his career. I think Frank was in his like seventh year or something at that point. I actually think Jim would like Josh Morton-Sake-1. Yeah. Josh's a little more physical, you know, blocks.

Josh Jacobs would be a great thing. Oh my God. Yeah. Yeah. So, I mean, I think you got to pay. I mean, 10 plus million. I mean, Derek Henry. That'd be fun too.

Well, if you get them cheap. Yeah. How much is someone going to pay him? So, I mean, that's the one thing. It's like this isn't a great running back draft. Like, I've heard some people think that Trey Benson, it's 230 pounds going to run. real fast, so maybe he's one.

Corum's a good back. Couldn't Jim just draft him the third? Corum? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, Jim could draft Corum. He knows exactly what he's getting. Absolutely. Now, I mean, I don't think Blake Corum is a breakaway guy, but could he be like Travis Henry for you? Probably, right? So, I mean, I think Jim's got good options

and the great thing about it for them is they don't have, they don't have a lot of gaping holes. But are they going to trade like a Bosa or one of those type guys? Maybe. They do have some cap issues. So, I mean, I think Bosa stays and Matt goes would be my guess

right now. You know, Joey's obviously had the injury issues, which, you know, we'll see where that goes. He's expensive. And he's expensive, right? But they, I mean, I think they're in a really good spot where they don't have to, I don't know if there's something on their roster, they're saying, yep, we have to go get that right

now. And that's a good place to be. Okay, last but not least, it's fucking nuts that Belichick's out of the league. Yeah. Like, it really is. I mean, I saw you tweeting about the dynasty thing. I mean, I think it's a poor commenter. Have you talked to him? Do you know people that did know him?

Yeah, I know. I mean, I think I have an idea of like where he's at a little bit. Like I think it's more, I think he's a little miffed, as he should be. How would he not be? And I think it's a poor commentary in the weekend. I think it actually ties. Like Pat Riley or someone just like, you don't get a job? So John, this is going to sound so stupid.

But I think there's an element of like the owners want it to be fun to go to work. And I don't want it to be. I don't want this to be a miserable place. And I think that's why Mike Vrable got fired in Tennessee. 100%. I think that's why Vrable had trouble getting another job. And you can ask Vrabel's players if they liked playing for them. They all did.

Right. But it was a high pressure environment. It can be tense at times. That was the culture. And it works. And it's worked in football since the freaking... He won playoff games with Taney Hill. And it's worked in football since the Lace's first one on the ball, you know?

so like and I think it's the same thing with Belichick's like well like do we really want to do that and like and then you know I the Atlanta specific to the Atlanta thing it's like like self-preservation on the part of some people I think Atlanta did great to get Rahim like Rahim is a home run higher for them but when it comes to like kind of like the different hands in the pot I think it's sort of reflective of what's happening with some of these guys which is like people protecting their own hide and then always been that in the NFL yeah and then And then there's like an element of, there's an element of, like, I want this to be like a fun, positive place to come to work.

Like, I don't know if I'd describe like San Francisco that way. I would not. You know what I mean? But they win. Well, just because Andy smiles, ask those guys how long they work. Oh, yeah. Days a week. No, Andy, Randy runs probably the toughest training camp in the league.

Andy and John Hart. I don't mean, I mean, coaches like, you're there a long time. It's not easy. Right. He might not be a yeller and a screamer, but it's intense. Right. So this is not a lovey-dovey. And I think that's what, and I think that that's, someone's going to hire.

I mean, that was why. Are you sure? Do you think he gets hired to you? I think that's a big reason why Jim Harbaugh had trouble getting back in, why it took him. You know what I mean? Like, was because people looked at what happened at the end of San Francisco. He was a legitimate kind of crazy. Yeah.

Bill's like, I don't know. I mean, was he just obsessed with picking the players too, you think? Was that part of it? I think, well, yeah, I think part of it was. So, like Rich McKay and all those guys in Atlanta, I think a part of it was, well, if you bring him in, you're going to have to do things his way, and you're going to probably have to blow up parts of your building for what, for two or three years? And I think that that's sort of where it is. It's like I like Bill as a coach. Is he willing?

And it was interesting because I did some background. So a really smart TV producer I work with in Boston. I asked me in November, he's like, just check out the market. for bill. Tell me what you can find. So I started asking around. To get Belichick on the post game in 2024? Yeah. But I just just sort of checked out. Like, hey, like, you know, like,

what would his market be in January, like, if he was free, which he wound up being free? And what a lot of people came back to me with was I could see him being like an executive vice president, like the Parcells in Miami, Coughlin the second time in Jacksonville, like that football czar, the

football czar role. Like, could see a team hiring as that. I could see a team hiring him, it's just the coach. But I can't see anybody throwing him the keys the way he had the keys in New England. And that was sort of interesting because it was like, I don't think he was insisting on that in Atlanta, but there was a perception that that's what he would need. And so then it becomes, okay, well, we're going to blow this whole thing up and build it around Bill. And then is he going to be gone in two years? And I think that that sort of was the problem. Well, now he's a year older, I thought he should go to Amazon. I think Amazon should be all over him. We saw him on game day. He'd be

great. He's good. You put him with Al. When he's engaged, he's really, good. But also to get the, all the owners watch that game beside two, and it would change the perception about being this angry curmudgeon. I don't think he's going to do that. How is he going to, do you think he's a lock to be hired next year? I don't, I mean, I would have said I thought it'd be really hard for me to envision him not getting a job offer this year and he didn't, which is, again, like the resume is, the last five years didn't go very well, but. I feel like a lot of this former players are pissed. They're offended by the way.

people talking about Bill. Yeah, I mean, the truth is 75, 80% of the hires don't work. No. So would you rather take a swing on a guy who's never been a head coach before, who might be 38 years old, or would you want to give a couple, want to see what you could do over two years or three years

with Bill freaking Bell check, you know? So I just think, I just think that there's, again, like I think there's all these different factors that play into it. And I think it's really, it's really, again, I feel the same way about Brable not having a job. Like, it's really a poor reflection on the end. NFL. Totally.

Yeah. Well, I mean, I talked to Howie really briefly. I do think all next year the pressure on the Eagles and the Cowboys is going to be insane. Like, there's pressure on the Niners to win, but no one's getting fired. Those two coaches. Those markets. One guy's on his last year and the other guy barely held on for dear life.

The way the- Wouldn't Bill one of those two spots? The way the narrative flipped in Philly the last six weeks. I mean, it's insane. They went from the model franchise, maybe not just in the NFL, maybe in like, one of the model franchises in all sports to, let's fire. like our staff. I mean, it flipped that question.

I thought it was going to get fired. I mean, trust me. I was in Philly a lot, like, at the end of Andy Reed. And it was the environment there at the end was a freaking insane. Yeah, it was angry. It was, and I have, I gained so much respect for Andy watching him sit up there and take hit after hit. Like, people like, like, more or less just asking him flat out, like, are you getting fired? I know.

So, yeah, I mean, and Dallas is Dallas. And Dallas is, like, the only. Dallas is the only true national team. You know what I mean? Truly, like, you know, so I think, yeah, I think there's a lot of pressure on both of those guys. I'm just get you out of here on this quick one. Big, like a tag and trade, Chris Jones.

You know, we've seen a lot of trades. You have a big prediction coming up next. We went with IUC, which I think is a fair one to look at. You know, T. Higgins and Brian Burns would be the two. Just because of the price tag. And I think Burns, so there's a lot of water under the bridge there. Why didn't they trade them last year to the Bears and keep DJ Moore? I know.

And they have, they have like, and so, like, I think they were very, very far apart. Now, they'll have a new guy negotiating in Brantillis. They have a new general manager in Dan Morgan, but Dan Morgan was there. So are they willing to go, especially with the cap rising, his cap number, his tag number will be higher? and obviously if you're Todd Francis agent, you're going to ask for that percentage more than you are already asking for. Good call.

Right? I just see, it's hard for me to see the agreement now. Maybe they come to it, and maybe David Tapper puts his foot down, says, we need some good vibes here and good players. Yeah, so that'd be one. And then T. Higgins is fascinating to me because whatever you pay T. Higgins becomes the floor for Jemar Chase.

You're already giving Joe Burrow $55 million a year. Let's say T comes in at 28 and Jamar comes in at 30. There's a lot of money for two guys. So now you're up to like say 60 between the two of them, right? So 60 plus 55 is $150 million average per year on three guys who are all involved in the same phase of the game, right? They're all in the passing game. Can you do that? Probably not.

or do you look at it and say we're going to sign Jemar Chase we're going to tag T. Higgins, we're going to get a pick back for T. Higgins and maybe we're going to draft, I don't know, like I have to look deeper at the receiver class, but we're going to draft A.D. Mitchell out of Texas at the end of the first round with a pick we get back for him. Or maybe you can go higher than that. Maybe you can, you know, get a middle of first round pick and then package it to go up and get Roma Dense, you know? And then you have that guy under cost control and that's the guy playing opposite chase.

it's an interesting dynamic because they have two guys who I think it's rare to have like two guys who legitimately could be number ones but Jemar Chase is very clearly a number one. And I think if you put Higgins on a team where he was the top receiver, he would show that he could be a number one. He and I, you go a lot like it. Okay, last one. The two running backs, big controversy last year.

They're all bitching and a moaning. They're not going to get tagged. I mean, what are they going to get paid? Yeah, I made this comment. I made this like... I think Jacobs is better than Jake. I mean, I have sympathy for those guys because it does suck, and those guys take a bigger beating than anybody else.

But, like, Sequin is going into year seven. I mean, I don't know. It feels like if you pulled the average fan, they'd take, like, year four. When the Giants were, when the Giants were, when the Giants, and he has a long history history, when the Giants were negotiating with him last year, I made the comment, and I, you know, I'm nothing against Seekon, but if I'm Seekwon, I was like, I remember saying, I'm like, I would take that right up to July 15th,

and then just get them to make the best offer and freaking take it. Because you do not know at that position. Anything can go at any time. And I questioned how marketable he was going to be going into year seven with the injury history with the wear and tear if he waited a year. Now, we'll see, like, he made it out relatively healthy, but he's been so nicked up over the course of his career.

You know, and I mean, Josh Jacobs is dealing with that a little less now, but he's what? He's been banged up? But he's going into year six, I think. think? Because he was a 19th pick. He was a 19th pick. And he's got a lot of tread because he,

they use him a lot. Yeah. So it sucks for running backs, but the problem isn't that those guys are so good. It's that it's just too easy to find a good one. And like maybe you can't find a great one. Like you can't find Derek Henry out there. But you can get good enough at the position in the third or fourth or fifth round.

And those guys can be productive right away. I mean, you know, look at the chiefs. The chiefs take one in the first round, Clyde Edwards, Back up to the seventh rounder. He's back up to the seventh rounder. So are those guys getting one year, 10 million, or they're getting like a multiple year contract?

I mean... Or one of those fake ones. I can't... It's hard for me to see where they're going to get, like, guarantees into... Again, because you have to look at it. Like, if you're getting a guarantee into year two, like 10 million a year,

well, like, now with Sequin, you're going into his eighth year. They got three for 30 with like 10 guaranteed written all over. I mean, it's... Like, Seekwan Barclay came into league three years after Todd Gurley. How long has Todd Gurley been gone? I mean, you know what I mean?

Like, so I just, again, like, I love Seekwana as a player. And by all accounts, he's a great dude and all that. And it sucks. But this is why, like, this is why if you go to, like, the recruiting rankings, right? Like, the high school recruiting rankings. Yeah. And you take a hard look and you see, why are there 35 receivers in the top 200? It's because that's where the best athletes are playing.

For sure. And I think that that's a part. There's a much longer conversation we can have about football and where it's gone and everything else. Like, you know, Odell Beckham, would he be a running back? Would he have been Marshall Falk 25 years ago? Maybe, right? Debo? Yeah.

I mean, there's all of these, I think there are all these decisions that are being made earlier in life with these guys where it's like, you know, maybe you don't have the same athletes playing those positions too. I mean, corner is a fascinating one to me. I don't know if you've noticed this, but how many kids of players wind up playing corner? It's the same. Right. They tell them. It's the grandson of Daryl Stingley, Derek Stingley plays for the Texans. Asante Samuel Jr., Pat Sertan, all these guys.

Porter. Yeah, I mean, Joey Porter. Certain. Why is that? Why is that? Well, that's because they look at it and they say, oh, my God, look how many kids there are that are 6-1-190 that are playing receiver that are freaking incredible athletes. But there are only like four of those playing corner.

And those pay a premium. So go play corner. So these sorts of, we talked about the business decisions, like these are the business decisions. and if you got a kid who's that level of athlete, do you, does he play running back anymore? Yeah. It's not, I mean, this isn't the age of Eric Dickerson anymore. No, it's done.

Well, Breer, I appreciate your time, kept you a long time, and enjoy the combine. Thank, I'll try. I'll try. I'm here through Sunday, so we'll see, we'll see what I look like that. Long haul, baby. Thanks, bro.

The volume. Another podcast from some SNL, late-night comedy. Not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, S&L's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine an Olympics where doping is not 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.

Hey, what's good, y'all? You're listening to Learn the Hardway with your favorite therapist and host Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor? It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast,

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